A Different Way
by Pagen Godess
Summary: Sam has a gift. Ever since he was five he's been seeing giant robots. Some that are friendly and some that aren't. Now with the time of his visions approaching how's he going to help. Expeshally when he's stuck in the Tranquility Insane asylum.
1. The First Few Years

The First Few Years

Five year old Sam screamed as the large monster behind him and his mommy roared and its claws tore into his father's flesh. His mother's horrified scream filled his ears as they ran and she cried his father's name while running. They couldn't run far enough or fast enough. The monster was right on their heels, its glowing red eyes cutting into their very hearts and souls. Sam stumbled and fell as his mother's hand was pulled from his, and she was lifted into the air by the monster that had haunted Sam in his dream and waking world for weeks.

"RUN SAMMY RUN!" his mother shouted as the great metal beast asked her something he couldn't exactly hear, something about glasses maybe. And run Sam did even as the world around him began flashing like it always did when he dreamed while awake. The dark street he was on was being replaced by a busy city street that had been turned into a war zone. There were more of the large metal monsters around him now, though he knew that some of them were good.

For a brief second, he was looking into the blue eyes of one of his most dreamed beings. Something about the bright yellow paint made him feel safe. Then a second later he was running in between two of the other beings. One large and black with two cannons attached to his arms and the other slightly smaller with yellow-green paint. Then after the scene had finished came the voices.

"You're a soldier now."

"Sam we'll protect you."

"Sam get to the building."

Then as fast as it had before, the scene changed. Now he was looking at the forms of the beings he dreamed about the most often. The large red and blue being and the silver clawed monster. No sound came with them, and more often than not the dreams with them were silent. He had only heard the red and blue being talk once and that had been when he asked Sam who he was.

Then, almost as soon as it had started, it had stopped, and he was running down that dark street again with his father's car burning far behind him and the monster holding his screaming and dying mother in its hands. Sam started crying as his mother let out one last heart-stopping scream, and the monster was after him again.

--The next morning--

Sam frowned as he forced his body to sit up. His whole body hurt, it made him think of that time he and Miles had played all day and had gotten into a fairly good fight before his mom had come to get him. His hands and knees were all scratched and red and he had a few cuts on his face. The place that hurt worse though was his elbow, which had dried blood on it and hurt really badly.

All he wanted now was to find his mommy and have her kiss his booboos and put band-aids on them and tell him he'd be just fine. Then she'd give him something to eat and a big cup of milk, hopefully chocolate, or some Kool-aid and then he get to watch cartoons till daddy came home and watched the news while he played in his room till supper. With a sort whimper, Sam crawled out from under the pile of old scrap metal that was being held up by the thing his daddy called a horse no matter how unhorse like it looked to him.

With a sort of caution he couldn't remember ever using, Sam made his way back to where his parents had been the night before. Hopefully they'd be up by now too, and then they could go home and he could tell Miles about the monster when he went over to his house tomorrow for his play date while mommy went shopping. He wasn't sure how far he actually walked but it seemed like a long way and his booboos hurt even worse than they had before. He found his mommy first which was fine with him because he wanted her more than daddy. She was better at making him feel better than daddy was.

Though by the looks of it mommy was still asleep and she had gotten sick after he had ran away. At least she might have. He could remember the last time he had gotten sick and had coughed up the same red stuff that his mommy was covered in. They had taken him to the hospital because of it and the mean nurse that had been working had given him a shot and yelled at him when he had cried. So mommy had gotten sick now all; he needed was a doctor to make her better and then they'd get daddy up and go home. With bright hopeful eyes, Sam looked around hoping to see a house near by. There were no houses but there was a store or at least the back of a store. With fierce determination, for a five year old at least, Sam started running toward the store.

-- Later that day--

To say Sam was confused was an understatement. He didn't have a clue what the hell was going on. He had went to the store and gotten one of the ladies that worked there to come help his mommy, after she had cleaned and covered his booboos. When they had gotten back to his mommy, she had screamed, picked him up, ran back inside the store, and called the police. So now he was sitting on the hood of a police car with a kind faced lady holding his hand while the people who worked for the doctor loaded his mommy and daddy into the large cars mommy had said were ambulances.

A man had asked him his name and if he had any family and had walked away after he had answered. There were so many people around doing so many different things that Sam didn't really know what to think at the moment or what to do. A minute or two later, the man from before walked up to the car and dismissed the lady standing next to him. Bending down a bit, he offered the child a kind smile; the poor boy didn't seem to realize that his parents were dead.

"Sam, my name is Ruban Goddard. I'm a policeman and I'm goanna take you down to the station to wait for your uncle, is that okay?" Sam eyed the man for a second, trying to decide if he should go. The man did have a badge like the man in his coloring book, and daddy had always said that he could trust them.

"If I go with you, will I be able to see my mommy and daddy after Uncle Charles comes and gets me?" The name Charles came out sounding more like Arles. Then again, for a five year old he spoke pretty well.

"You'll have to ask your uncle about that one, Sam." Sam worried his lower lip for a moment before nodding. Ruban smiled as he picked the boy up and proceeded to load him in his car.

-- A Few weeks later--

Sam screamed as his uncle ran into his room. It had been a few weeks since his parents' death, and his uncle was just starting to figure out how hard it was to raise a child when you were single. It was even more difficult when said child only slept about three hours a night and had reoccurring nightmares about giant metal monsters that attacked him and other people that the boy didn't know.

After a few minutes of mumbling comforting words and rocking his nephew back and forth, Sam had stopped crying and now sat hiccuping in his uncle's arms. Now though the boy wouldn't go back to sleep, and that meant that his night was just beginning. The psychiatrist at the hospital had warned him that something like this might happen, but he had been so distraught over his sister's death he didn't really care.

He did know one thing though and that was that he was beginning to get tired of his nephew's constant jabber about giant metal monster or men or what the fuck they were. He been told about so many different ones that looked so many different ways he really didn't care anymore. And apparently he didn't just see them in his dreams; oh no, he saw them when he was awake too.

Not only had he told him about it but it was also what he told everyone that had asked him about his parents' death too. The metal monster from his dreams did it. Not five minutes later, Charles walked out of his nephew's room and toward his phone. He had a friend to call. It was time his nephew learned the truth. There are no such things as metal monsters.

-- One month later--

Sam gulped as the nurses strapped him to the bed. The mattress was soft and the pillow oddly comfy, but the straps going around his wrists and ankles weren't. Sam whimpered as another one of the nurses stuck a needle in his arm. He hated needles, didn't they know that? One of the nurses he saw most often shushed him and ran a soft skinned hand through his hair, trying to soothe him. Frightened brown eyes scanned the ceiling and eyed what he could see of the machines lining the wall on the left side of the room.

"Open your mouth please." The order was polite but it was an order still, and Uncle Charles had said if he was good and did as he was told then he'd be able to go home soon and Uncle Charles would take him to the park to see Miles and then they'd go see his parents. Sam couldn't see what the lady placed in his mouth but it tasted kinda rubbery.

A man's voice entered the room as his doctor came in and smiled down at him. He didn't like his doctor, his smile seemed to tease him and promised pain and that he'd never get out of the place his uncle had sent him too.

"Are you ready, Sammy-boy?" Sam shook his head, seeing how he couldn't talk. The doctor grinned and laughed a little.

"Well too bad." Sam squeezed his eyes shut as tight as they would go, and a minute later it felt like his body was on fire. Sam's body jerked without him telling it to and it got very hard to think about why he was where he was and what was going on. This would be his first of many treatments yet to come.

--A few years later--

Sam sighed as he sat in the open room waiting for his doctor to come and talk to him again. And he'd tell him the same thing he always told him again. Then he'd bring up his uncle again. It had been like this for as long as Sam could remember. By now, Sam knew that his uncle didn't care if he stayed in the asylum or not, because if he did he'd come visit him. And he hadn't visited since Sam turned six. The sound of an opening door alerted Sam of Dr. Lynch's arrival. Not that Sam ever said much of anything anymore. He'd almost stopped talking altogether and only spoke when he needed too.

"Good morning Sam. How are you this fine day?" Sam sat in silence, knowing damn well that the doctor in question didn't really care. Dr Lynch scowled as he turned his back to the boy in front of him. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of five, and they hadn't gotten it through the boy's thick head that giant alien robots didn't exist. The fact that the boy seemed to believe he could see into the future didn't help at all. Then again his great grandfather had suffered from almost the exact same thing when he was alive, so it was possible that he was the cause of the boy's problem.

"So Sammy-boy, when are your large intergalactic friends going to show up? Oh or better yet can you tell me this week's lottery numbers? I need a vacation." Sam looked up from the patch of carpet he'd been focusing on, he'd been trying to trace one of the colored swirls back to its beginning, and blinked at Dr. Lynch. He thought about the doctors question for a moment. His most recent vision of the giant robots, he'd finally figured out what they were when a nurse had told him to describe them to her, had been about a month and a half ago.

He supposed that, from what he could see, they were still on their way and the one that would arrive first was still a year or two away. That was just his guess of course. He'd never actually seen himself in his visions so he couldn't guess at how old he'd be, but he did have a feeling when he saw the one lone traveler.

"It'll be awhile yet, doc." Sam said as he went back to tracing lines on the carpet.

--Some time later--

Sam smiled as he watched the fake world in front of him. He had learned that if he concentrated, he could watch his memories. This had been learned through long hours of meditation, which he was told about by one of the nurses that had used to work at the asylum. She, like he himself, was able to do something others couldn't. She had been able to sense emotions, and had helped him get a bit more control over his powers.

She hadn't stayed long. Dr. Lynch had fired her for filling his head with nonsense. But what she had taught him helped a great deal. After years of practice, he had learned to focus his mind. He still couldn't control when he saw the future or what he saw, but being able to watch memories was one of the few things that kept him sane.

The smiling face of his mother as they baked cookies stared back at him. He had long ago forgotten what they had said during the event but that was okay, just having her face was enough. Sam blinked as his vision of his mother was replaced with one of what looked like an asteroid falling to earth. Sam's smile widened. It wouldn't be much longer. It would be a while more until the others arrived, but he could wait.

--Two years later--

Sam's body jolted upward as a strong current of electricity passed through his body. Over the years, the voltage of the electricity and the length of his treatments had been increased. Dr. Lynch seemed determined to cure him of an illness he didn't have, and Sam hated the man enough to put up one hell of a fight whenever he was taken to one of the ECT rooms.

He had long ago gotten used to the feeling of the shock treatments and even the shots they gave him before the treatments started. Though, Lynch himself had added a new bit of cruelty to them. Sam hissed in pain as the sharp plastic of the old restraints cut into his wrists, and as the weak conducting metal that was hidden, but uncovered enough to touch his skin, burned the top layer of flesh.

This was also one of the things he had gotten used to over the past nine years. He knew that his uncle no longer cared about what happened to him, and probably wouldn't care if he died in this place. Not that Dr. Lynch would let him, he loved his guinea pig too much to let him go willingly. Another hiss passed his lips as the current continued running through his body.

--Half a year later--

Sam all but screamed as one of the guards pulled his arm behind his back none too gently. Body jerking wildly in the guard's grip and vision going black, Sam prayed that this fit would end soon. The only thing he could do now was listen to Dr. Lynch telling the guard to put him in his room. He would learn to stop acting up soon enough. Sam knew that he had never faked a fit before, though he did have quite a few different kinds.

They tended happened on the days he didn't have ECT treatments - that or every great once in a while, they'd hit while on the way to the treatment room. More often than not though, it happened when they stopped his treatments for more than three or four days.

The guard in question literally dragged him down the hall to his room. The sound of the door opening filled his ears and he was moving again. Then, without so much as a warning, the guard threw him on his bed and strapped his wrists to the posts at the head.

--A year and a half later--

Sam sighed as he watched the other patients walk around the rec room or sit in front of the large windows in the sun. It had been almost a year since his last vision of the yellow robot. As of late, his visions had been occupied by a military group in some desert on the other side of the world and some weird government group at Hover Damn.

Instinct told him that the time had almost come for the yellow robot to appear again. He had learned through half-spoken sentences what he would need to find. He knew that he needed his great grandpa's glasses, and to his luck, he had a very faint memory of where they were. With any luck, his great grandpa's house was still standing.

--

The sound of sirens filled his ears as he ran from the cop car. The words "to punish and enslave" written on the side.

A man in a black suit flashed a badge in his and a girl's face before they were forced from a house and handcuffed.

A group of men in army clothes fought against a large metal scorpion.

The large yellow-green robot held him in his large hand and inspected the burns on his wrists.

The bright yellow robot stood protectively in front of him and the girl he didn't know.

Large cannons charged as the black robot introduced him self.

Silver flashed as a robot roughly the same size as the yellow one pulled the guns out of the strange group's hands.

The largest robot held out his hand for him and his companion to climb onto.

--

Sam gasped as he shot up in bed, and a smile crossed his face. It'll be any day now. Soon he'd be out of this place.


	2. Attacks and Arrivals

Attacks and Arrivals

--Qatar--

The sound of laughter filled the army helicopter as the troop of men returned to their base. Caption William Lennox was in a good mood; only one month left and then he'd get to go home and see his wife and baby girl. The chopper landed with no trouble, and the men climbed out into the hot sun. Will smiled as a young boy, who he had become fast friends with, offered him a canteen of water.

"So you gonna help me with the equipment?"

"Sure."

--

"Sir we have an unidentified chopper coming in."

"Have you ran the numbers?"

"Yes sir. The numbers match one that was shot down about a month or so ago."

"I want you to check and recheck those numbers."

"I did sir. A friend of mine was on that chopper."

--

The helicopter had just stood up. Just unfolded itself and stood the fuck up. Will had to stand and stare for a moment in order to believe what he was seeing - not that he ever probably would. With a nervous gulp, Will started running as the helicopter attacked.

--

"Sir it's hacking into our systems."

"Disconnect. It can't get that information!"

"I CAN'T SIR!"

"THEN CUT THE LINE!"

--Tranquility Insane Asylum Drive--

The sound of soft crunching gravel mixed with the noise of the nightly insects as Barricade drove slowly and silently toward the Tranquility Insane Asylum. The lights of his alt-form turned off and Frenzy was shaking with silent joy in his passenger seat. The thought that he might just get to torture and kill one of the planet's fleshling's made his evil little spark buzz with joy.

"Find his room, Frenzy. I don't want you taking too long in there."

"Ya ya ya. I know. I know just let me in there already." Frenzy all but squealed as names and room numbers slashed before his eyes before landing on one. Samuel James Witwicky, room number 1976, Schizophrenic Ward, Second basement.

"Just remember Frenzy - WE NEED THE HUMAN ALIVE!"

Frenzy all but squealed as Barricade ejected him from his interior. With a low grumble, the cassette made his way to the side door closest to the basement levels and slipped in. The halls were clean, very clean. The floor tiles were a pale grey that caused the soft light from the ceiling to reflect in long rectangular tube shapes. The clean white walls only helped to reflect the soft light.

With a frustrated huff, Frenzy moved to the closest unoccupied internet jack and plugged himself in. In a few seconds, a map of the lower levels was shown, loaded into his memory, and the security cameras were being deactivated. With a gleeful cackle, Frenzy headed off toward the nearest door to the second level of the basement.

--Schizophrenic Ward --

Olivia Cory sighed as she walked down the darkened halls of her current job. This hadn't been what she'd expected when her father told her he'd found her a good paying job as a nurse. Dr. Lynch creeped her out big time, and he was downright cruel to his patients especially the boy in room 1976. The poor boy's hair was so long that it only lacked about an inch and a half of length to touch the middle of his back. His eyes were a deep dark brown - a really pretty color - but the dark circles under his eyes took away from their beauty. The poor boy hardly ever slept.

He had never spoken to her and, so far as she knew, he never talked to anyone else either. He did scream though. You could tell when he was having treatments because he'd scream and fight all the way down to his room. She just wanted to hug the poor boy. A flash of silver in the corner of her eye caused Olivia to jump and turn to her right. She could have sworn she'd seen something. Shaking her head back and forth and scolding herself for scaring her self again, Olivia began to walk back down the hallway.

Over the past few months of working here, she had learned one very important thing. No matter what, asylums at night were creepy. The loud clang of the over turned trash can caused Olivia to let loose an ear piercing scream. Heart racing, she spun around in a fast circle, trying to see what had caused the trash can to topple over. For a few seconds, she saw nothing, and then a flash of silver caught her eye. The little creature that stood in front of her made her think of a small child at first, but then as it moved, her impression changed.

The clicking of what looked like the thing's jaw made her think of a spider clicking its fangs. Long sharp fingers pulled back as it took what looked like a fighting stance in front of her. Olivia couldn't even bring herself to scream before the silver creature flung itself at her, uttering a noise that sounded like a hiss and a growl. Arms crossed in front of her face, Olivia's breathing and heartbeat increased. The small creature was tearing at any part of her upper body it could reach. Blood covered silver claws as it pulled back one arm and took aim. Olivia's scream sounded in the hall, heard by only one person.

--Schizophrenic Ward Room 1976 --

Sam cringed as he listened to one of the nurses scream. Lying still for a few more seconds, Sam listened, hoping to get some sort of confirmation on whether or not it was time for him to get moving. It wasn't the sound of the nurse hitting the floor but the sound the little alien creature made, as it attacked the nurse, that told him it was about time. Getting out of bed and bending down to reach under it, Sam pulled out two more pillows before standing up again.

Quickly and quietly arranging the pillows so it'd look somewhat human shaped, Sam threw the blanket over them and then proceeded to creep to the corner of his room closest to the door. The small robot's footsteps almost sounded like tin cans hitting the floor. Heart beating wildly in his ears, Sam took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before slowly letting it out. Time itself seemed to be playing with him, for the few seconds it took for the small silver being to start trying to break down his door seemed to last an eternity.

With a loud yell of some word Sam couldn't understand, Frenzy finally succeeded in getting the door open. The door hit the wall with a loud bang and then stayed motionless. Frenzy stood motionless for a few seconds, bright blue optics scanning what he could see of the room in front of him. Small head turning so it could look fully at the bed, Frenzy took two silent steps into the room. With a mad cry of a word that sounded something like "YATTA", Frenzy dove at the bed while Sam pulled himself from his little corner of the room and ran. Thanking every god he could think of, Sam ran down the hall as fast as he could. No matter how stupid Frenzy had been at the moment of his unknown pillow attacking, he wouldn't be fooled for long.

Heart pounding in his chest and body pushing itself for all the speed it had, as soon as the tin can footsteps returned, Sam hit a pool of blood at top speeds and fell flat on his back. Only to turn his head and come face to face with the eyeless face of Olivia Cory. Sam bit back a scream as he tried and failed to push himself up. The blood underneath his hands making it nearly impossible. With another wild cry, Frenzy was on top on him before he could try to get up again. Long silver fingers darted forward and backward, trying to find a way to his neck. A triumphant cry exited Frenzy's vocal processor as he wrapped his fingers around Sam's throat. Barricade said he couldn't kill the human - he never said he couldn't hurt him or at least knock him out.

Frenzy screamed, and his fingers unwound themselves from around Sam's neck to grab at the sharp item that had been forced into one of the joints by his head. Sam had never been more thankful for scissors in his whole life; he was even more thankful that most of the nurses carried them some of the time, they were to be put away when dealing with patients. Sam wasn't really sure what they even needed them for, but he could care less at the moment. With all the strength he could muster, Sam threw Frenzy back down the hallway and was quite pleased to see that the little hellion stayed down for the time being.

Sam rubbed his neck as he finally managed to pull himself to his feet, slipping on the warm blood the whole time. Forcing much needed air into his lungs, Sam ran down the hallway as fast as his already aching body could take him. Sam had to grab hold of the door frame that separated rooms from offices in order to stop his mad dash completely. Frenzy was thankfully still lying on the floor in pain from the jab he'd made with the scissors, which now rested in his pocket. Closing the heavy metal door, Sam's eyes swept the rest of the hall looking for something to jam it closed with.

There, not three feet away, sat a large plastic chair. With an almost giddy type of joy, Sam grabbed the chair and jammed it under the door knob. That wouldn't stop Frenzy for long, but it would give him a head start. Eyes sweeping the hall for the exit to the stairs, Sam started running again. He could hear faint tin can footfalls. Frenzy was finally back up on his feet. Sam pulled the stairway door open with a jerk and fumbled with the lock on the inside while trying not to slow down too much. He still had to make it to the main floor and get outside without getting caught.

Bare feet pounding up the cold metal stairs, Sam made his way up. Now was one of those times he really wished that he had shoes or a jacket for that matter. Cool air rushed past Sam's face as he pulled the door to the upper level open and ran right smack into Dr. Lynch. Heart hammering in his chest at five hundred miles an hour, Sam let out a shout of fear. Dr. Lynch shouted in shock as well, his hand resting over his heart, a look of surprise and amusement on his face. With a grunt and a rough pull, he had Sam on his feet and was five inches away from his face.

"Where you going, Sammy-boy? Huh? How'd you get out of your room?" Sam grunted as he tried to pull away from Dr. Lynch. He could smell whiskey on his breath.

"Are you big metal friends here Sammy-boy? Huh, are they?"

As if to answer his question, a loud bang sounded a few floors below them. Frenzy had knocked in the door. Sam huffed as his hand made his way toward his pocket, toward the scissors hidden there. With a scream worthy of a before treatment fight, Sam pulled the scissors out of his pocket and plunged them into his knee. With a pained and startled shout, Dr. Lynch dropped Sam to the floor and grabbed his knee, dark red blood running through his fingers. Despite the obvious panic and need to get out of the asylum, Sam couldn't help but notice that the doctor's blood almost looked black.

'So he really is an evil bastard. I knew it.'

The loud thump of Frenzy hitting the stairwell door reminded Sam that he needed to book it as fast as he could and, coming out of his momentary stupor, Sam started running toward the exit once again. Apparently God was on his side that day because Frenzy didn't seem to know how to open doors - bust them down yes, turn a handle no. Then again, maybe God just liked to laugh at him.

Pain erupted throughout his body as Sam found himself on his back once again. Only this time, he was looking at the front end of a police car and not the dead body of a nurse. For a moment, he wished it was a dead nurse. The headlights of the car were ungodly bright, and if he listened close enough, he could hear a buzzing- humming noise that he knew wasn't the engine. With a nervous smile, Sam looked at the transformed alien in front of him and prayed it was a friendly one he just hadn't seen before.

"Hi." The car's engine roared to life as the vehicle moved forward a bit. He had been wrong, it wasn't friendly, not friendly one little bit. The roar of a second engine caught both the transformer's and Sam's attention and, thank god, this one was a bright shade of yellow. Sam rolled away from the cop car while its attention seemed to be on the other vehicle. Scrambling to his feet as fast as he could, Sam started running toward the other car.

Just as the driver's side door opened for him, the entrance to the asylum burst open as well, and Frenzy made a mad dash toward him. Sam shouted as the little virus managed to wrap its fingers around one of his legs. Fear running through his veins, Sam kicked out his leg, trying to hit the small silver bot in hopes of getting it to let go. Needless to say, Frenzy wasn't making it as easy as he could. The little bot was weaving back and forth and dodging Sam's frantic kicks at his face. Sam hissed as his bare foot finally managed to hit Frenzy in the face, sharp metal cutting into soft flesh.

With a wild cry, Frenzy leg go and fell backwards a few feet. While Frenzy reestablished his footing, Sam all but jumped into the driver's side of the bright yellow car. The door slammed quickly with a loud click, almost catching Sam's foot in the process. With a loud rev, the yellow car threw itself into reverse and started going backwards down the driveway. Sam bounced in the seat, trying to put on the seatbelt while the car was moving. Which was a lot harder to do on a gravel road than it would have been on a paved road. Sam hissed as his injured foot hit underside of the dashboard, blood dripping onto the floorboard. Sam was jostled as they hit the highway, the cop car not far behind, sirens blaring and lights flashing. The chase had begun.


	3. Hi I’m being chased by an evil car Car

Hi. I'm being chased by an evil car. Care to join me?

Sam's ears were ringing, his head hurt, and the bottom of his left foot stung really bad. It wouldn't surprise him one bit if it got infected by the end of his little trip. Sam eyed the dashboard of the alien car he was currently sitting in and wondered what to do or, hell, what to say. What do you say to the giant alien robot turned car that just saved your life? Well, he had half an idea and an unusual urge to say more than five words in five minutes.

"So do you have a name? I can't just call you 'car' all the time."

The engine sputtered for a second, but the car didn't slow down and, if possible, the sirens behind them got even louder. The rogue cop car was letting them know it was, in fact, still there. Static sounded from the radio for a few seconds fallowed by snippets of songs and conversations.

"Hi my name is…. Sweet little Bumblebee I know what you want from me."

Sam sat in silence for a moment, trying to get any meaning out of what he had just heard. He'd admit his brain was a little slow at times - now being a really bad time for it - but he didn't have much say in the matter.

"S-so your name is Bumblebee?"

"You are correct sir."

Sam offered Bumblebee's dash a small smile, and then he was jolted forward. Barricade had rear ended them as if to remind them that, yes, he was still there, and if they didn't hurry up they'd get caught and, more than likely, his new friend would get killed. And if Bumblebee was off lined, then he'd be screwed because he wasn't in any shape to outrun a pissed off alien. Chances were that he get fifteen feet, and then the car would hit him doing thirty or however fast he felt like going. Though, Sam wasn't very thankful when Bumblebee sped up, forcing him back into the seat and almost making him a part of said seat while doing so.

The world flashed around him in streaks of black, dark green, white, and several other colors that he couldn't name the shades of. He had no idea how fast they were going and found himself too afraid to look at the speedometer. Which was silly, considering he had more realistic things to be afraid of. Two of them being right behind them. Bumblebee's engine accelerated even more as he took a tight right turn - how they didn't flip Sam would never know - and pulled onto the freeway.

"Are you nuts?"

"I'm not crazy I'm just a little insane."

"A little isn't the word I'd be using. Besides I know insane. I've lived with it for the past decade or however long I was there."

Several shrill clicks sounded from the radio and Sam could only assume that Bumblebee was laughing at him. What could he say, he'd lived a sheltered life - a very sheltered life. After a minute of looking at his twiddling thumbs, Sam's head snapped up and he turned in his seat to look out Bumblebee's back window. The cop car from hell and his little demon had vanished. No siren, no flashing lights, no nothing, and Bumblebee had yet to slow down. Sam sighed in relief and turned back around in his seat, eyeing the radio.

"They're gone. So now what?"

The radio crackled for a moment, and Sam took that as an 'I'm thinking'. So he did the only thing he could think of doing at that moment - he pulled his left foot onto his right leg and looked at the gash on the bottom. The gash was about three inches long and was still dripping blood. Sam noted that there was a nice rusty red stain on the floorboard and cringed. A tremor of pain shot through the cut as Sam lightly ran his finger down it. He really needed something to wrap around it, and he seriously doubted that his savior had a first aid kit in his trunk. It never hurt to ask, did it? Besides, he'd never gotten an answer for his last question.

"You wouldn't happen to have a first aid kit, would you? One for like us humans or whatever I'm considered."

Bumblebee drove on for a few minutes and, much to Sam's surprise, he pulled over at the next rest stop and popped his trunk open. Sam eyed the dash again. Was there anything Bumblebee didn't have? At this point, nothing should surprise him but, what the hell, he was practically new to the outside world. With a nervous twitch, Sam opened the driver's side door and limped toward the trunk. Much to his amusement, there was not only a first aid kit but a backpack, and he bet his crazy insane visions of the future or whatever they were that it had clothes in it.

"You think of everything, don't you?"

"Of course."

Sam's hand stopped for a second. The car had made those clicking noises again, so why could he understand them, or was it just his imagination running away with him again. Oh well, he could figure it out later. Sam smiled and grabbed both items from the trunk and made his way back toward the front seat. Finding what he needed was quite easy - the hard part would be trying not to scream when he poured the rubbing alcohol on his foot.

He could remember a day not five years earlier when he'd gotten into a fight - more like was forced to defend himself - with a bipolar boy named Victor, who had all the rage and strength of a pissed off bull. He gotten the crap beaten out of him by the time the nurse and one of the guards had pulled him off. Victor had broken his nose and knocked out two of his few remaining baby teeth and given him such a bad black eye that he hadn't been able to see out of it for almost a month. All he'd managed to do to Victor was give him a black eye that barely puffed up.

Needless to say, Victor had beaten the crap out of him for no reason and, well, it wasn't the first or last time he'd been hurt by a fellow patient. Clenching his teeth, Sam unscrewed the bottle cap and tried his best to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do. Slowly, Sam tipped the bottle forward and the cool liquid hit the cut dead on. For the first few seconds, Sam thought he was overreacting, but then came the pain. A fierce sting shot through the severed nerves as the alcohol killed the germs.

--

Bumblebee sat quietly, sensors trained on his charge. On the boy he had to protect - for both his sake and his kind's. He had to admit though that the boy in question didn't look like he could win a fight with a paper bag on his best day. Not that it would surprise him much if the boy couldn't. His hair was long and hung around his head and face in sections, not like the long hair he'd seen on other males, which was usually kept clean and held behind the head with ponytail holder and even the ones that didn't do that, their hair didn't look as stringy as Sam's did.

He had dark circles under his eyes, not a lot of sleep, he'd have to try and fix that. Burns around his wrists and bruises - from Frenzy no doubt, human fingers were thicker - around his neck. Then, of course, there was the cut on the bottom of his foot that was dripping blood on his nice clean floorboard, he's have to get it cleaned later. His charge was a wreak. It was strange though, Sam had known him. He had recognized him the moment he'd pulled into the drive and had opened the door, and Sam had gotten in without a moment's hesitation. He had to admit that Sam was stupidly brave and most certainly nuts.

Nuts in a good way of course. He had read the files on the human that was sitting in his interior and found them quite interesting, if he cared to admit it to himself. There were a few things that didn't make sense, but Ratchet would probably know more about that than he would. Because the one thing about Sam he wasn't sure of was whether or not he was supposed to know about them, or if humans were supposed to have that much electricity running through their bodies at one time?

--The next morning--

Sam yawned as he uncurled from his place in Bumblebee's backseat. He hadn't slept that long in years - nearly six hours of sleep and he felt like a new man, well except for all the aching bones and his hurting foot and the bruises around his neck. His night had been interesting though, after cleaning and bandaging his foot of course. Much to his surprise, the clothes that Bumblebee had provided - Sam had a feeling that the stuff he'd needed and Bumblebee had had was stolen - fit quite well, the pants were a little loose and the t-shirt was a size too big, but they were better than his blood stained dirt covered asylum pajamas. His foot was clean and wrapped in gauze which was wrapped in the beige colored wrap stuff that he'd only seen on people with sprained ankles and wrists. Out of everything he had now though, he still lacked a pair of shoes, much to his feet's dismay.

Oh well, he'd lived through worse. It had been very very cool though, watching Bumblebee send out the signal for the others to make landfall. So it was with a small smile that Sam exited Bumblebee's interior half an hour later and made his way to the nearest gas station, stolen wallet in hand and stomach growling. Sam's mind spun for a second - real food. He'd actually get to eat something unhealthy and full of taste for once. As Sam eyed the store in front of him, his footsteps slowed and he came to a stop a few feet in front of the door. Sam looked down as his fingers started to twitch from nerves. He couldn't help the nervous thoughts that ran through his mind as he took another step closer.

The station wasn't exactly full but it wasn't dead either. There were so many people. People he didn't know and people that didn't know him. What if he did something wrong and got in trouble? All someone would have to do would be look at the bracelet around his wrist, and they'd know where he was from and where to send him back to. He didn't like the asylum, but at least he knew almost everyone on his floor and most of them knew him.

Sam took a nervous step backwards, heartbeat increasing and palms starting to sweat. Sam took a deep breath and willed his unmoving body to go forward - he'd done things like this before, but he'd almost always been with his mother. Hands twitching faster now, Sam took a step back. He knew his fear was stupid, he knew that no one would bother him without reason but, god damn it, his fear was one of the only semi-sane parts of his brain, and he was going to listen to it if it killed him.

"Young man, are you all right?"

Sam whipped around and looked at the woman who had just spoken. Sam blinked as he looked at her because, for half a second, he had seen his mother instead of her. The woman looked at him for a second before asking again.

"Young man, are you alright?"

Sam shook his head now, he was hearing his mother's voice instead of her. The woman in front of him took a few tense steps forward.

"Are you lost, sweetie? Do you need help?"

Sam shook his head again. Okay, so he had finally snapped after all the years, he'd been able to hold it together one trip to the outside world and he snaps. So Sam did what any person suddenly very overwhelmed by the outside world would do - he turned and started running back up the block to where Bumblebee was waiting for him, or at least where he thought Bumblebee was waiting for him.

"What the hell? I finally get back to the outside world and then I snap. Great time to lose what's left of your mind, Sammy-boy. Now, think."

Great, now not only was he talking to himself, but he was calling himself Sammy-boy. Sam, trying to find some rational part of his brain, stopped moving and stood very still, taking a couple of deep breaths. He wouldn't get anywhere acting like he was now, he needed to calm down and breathe. Taking a few more deep breaths and letting them out slowly, Sam realized his easily fixed mistake. He'd turned the wrong way when he'd ran, so all he had to do was go back to the station, get his food if it wasn't crowded, and cross the other road, and head back to Bumblebee.

And to make things even simpler, he'd just finish walking around this block instead of turning around and going the long way back around. He was closer to the other end of the street than he was to the beginning of the street. So, taking one more deep breath, Sam started walking down the sidewalk while looking at all the people around him with mild curiosity. A lot had changed in twelve years.

Sam stopped for a second at the corner of the sidewalk and took another deep breath, trying to finish calming his still jumpy heart. Needless to say, the sound of a siren caused his attempt to fail and, praying to every god out there, Sam risked looking at the cop car not fifty feet from him. The cop from hell was back and his little demon was hopping up and down in the front seat so, without thinking, Sam did the most natural thing in the world. He ran in the wrong direction, straight across the road and away from Bumblebee.

--

Mikaela Banes was not a happy person at the moment. Oh no, she was not. She had just dumped her boyfriend and now she was lost. This was just not her day. Her bright blue Vespa bounced underneath her as she drove toward the old two level parking lot. Only to have some guy run out in front of her and clothes-line her off her bike.

"Oh my god! Are you insane?"

The body standing in front of her with a baffled and scared look on his face sure looked it. The boy in question eyed her for a second before turning around and looking, eyes weaving back and forth as fast as possible.

"Hey, I asked you a question."

Mikaela snapped. There was no way in hell he was going to ignore her for long. And he didn't, because before she realized what was going on, he had a firm but not strong grip on her arm and was pulling her backwards.

"Hey, what are you doing? Listen to me."

"Can't stay here."

"What?"

"It's not safe for either of us."

Mikaela pulled her arm out of the boy's hand just as some sort of huge creature burst out of the parking lot. With a very loud roar that caused her to scream right in Sam's ear. Sam winced as he looked at the brown haired girl that refused to run. Well now that the cop car from hell had revealed himself, maybe she would. Much to Sam's joy, she did indeed start running and just as she started, the roar of another engine sounded around a corner. Bumblebee skidded to a stop right in front of Barricade and opened his door, a silent plea for them to get in before they went and got themselves killed.

"What the hell!"

Mikaela yelled as the boy behind her pushed her toward the empty self-driving yellow Camaro.

"Just trust me, he's a lot safer than the demon cop."

Mikaela yelped as she was pushed into the car, followed closely by the boy she didn't know. The door closed behind them with a loud snap and the car took off without any warning. Mikaela looked over at the boy in the driver's seat and took a deep breath. She was so going to yell his ear off. Words halfway out of her mouth, the boy turned, locked eyes with hers, and cut her off before she could even get started.

"Hi. I'm Sam and the car's Bumblebee. So, what's your name?"


	4. Landfall

Landfall

Two hours later, with the sun almost set behind them, Mikaela still wished she hadn't gotten out of bed that day. The demon cop from hell was still chasing them and she'd gotten a very fast briefing on what the hell was going on and even now she still barely had a clue. She did know, though, that wherever the hell they were going was almost half an hour away from town, and if she had to guess, she'd say they were headed for the old power plant. Why, she had no freaking clue, but that was just her guess.

Not to mention that Sam hadn't spoken to her since the explanation, but he did talk to the car, and the car apparently talked back to him. If the clicking noises she couldn't understand were indeed words.

"Sorry about earlier. I hope I didn't hurt you too bad when I pulled you off of that thing you were riding."

Mikaela's eyes snapped to Sam who was looking down, his hands shaking like a kid on a sugar high.

"Oh. So you're going to talk to me now, are you?"

Sam looked at her for a second and then looked down again, keeping his eyes focused on one spot and not looking back up.

"How rude."

Mikaela jumped at the sudden sound from the radio. Okay, so she was being rude, but she had just been kidnapped by an alien car and some kid who looked like he'd never seen the light of day. Sam made her think of an old Dracula movie she had watched once when she was younger, she'd had nightmares for a month afterwards.

"It's okay Bee, she has a reason to be mad. We did kind of kidnap her."

A series of whistles and clicks sounded from the radio before it went quiet again. Mikaela took a deep breath. They had probably saved her life, so she could try to be a little polite.

"So what did he say?" Mikaela offered Sam a third of a smile when he looked up at her, and he in return offered her one back.

"He said I have a point. We are sorry you know."

Mikaela sighed but still kept her eye's locked on Sam's.

"I was being a bitch. My day hadn't been going well anyways, so this is just the icing on the cake, I suppose. You guys probably saved my life."

"Barricade, the cop car, probably would have killed you, that or the little silver thing would have. That's what Bee and me think at least."

"So the cop car has a name. What about the other little thing you mentioned? I didn't see him."

Several more clicks and whistles sounded from the radio again as Bumblebee answered her question.

"That's because he was inside of Barricade, don't ask me how, I don't get how that works any better than you do. Bee says that the little silver thing is called Frenzy. He's what they call a cassette. He like a hacker but a lot better than any human. Basically he's a virus given a form."

Mikaela nodded, not that she got much of what he was saying but she understood enough or at least enough to get an idea of what was going on. The cop car and his little friend were dangerous and would probably kill her without so much as a second thought. Silence filled the car again as the old power plant came into view.

--

They were fighting, Bumblebee and Barricade, and Frenzy was after them. The old power plant stood around them. A few vehicles here and there, perhaps the town was going to put something else here in a year or two.

"Sam?"

The sound of screeching metal filled the air. He didn't know who was winning but he hoped to god that it was Bumblebee, because if he lost then they'd be dead.

"Sam are you okay?"

Right now though, he had more important things to focus on. Like getting away from Frenzy. Then the next thing he knew, he was one the ground with Frenzy's fingers wrapped around his left ankle.

"SAM?"

--

Sam jumped and looked at Mikaela. She was giving him an odd look. Well, he had just had a vision in front of her so ya, he'd be looking at himself oddly too, he supposed.

"Are you okay?" Mikaela asked again.

Sam smiled and nodded.

"Ya, I do that sometimes. I just kinda space out."

Sam offered her a silly grin and turned his head back toward the front window. They were almost to the old power plant. Bumblebee would fight soon, and no matter how many of his visions of the city battle he was in, Sam still worried because he knew as well as anyone that things didn't always go as planned. The future wasn't set in stone, no matter how much he wished it was.

Bumblebee's speed started to gradually slow as they pulled into the power plant. His brakes made no sound as he stopped and the driver's side door popped open. Sam pulled Mikaela out and she came willingly. There were some things you just didn't argue with, and at the moment Sam was one of them. If he wanted her out of the car, then she would get out of the car. He hadn't tried to kill her yet.

The sound of shifting metal caught her attention, and she turned away from Sam to look at the car that wasn't a car anymore but a 17 foot tall alien robot that was taking a fighting stance in front of him. Not thirty seconds later, Barricade had arrived and transformed into all 19 feet of his evil glory, while releasing Frenzy from his interior with a noise that sounded like someone had shot an empty pop can. Frenzy sure as hell didn't have tin can footsteps now.

"Run."

That was all that was needed for both Sam and Mikaela to bolt, Frenzy on their tails not fifteen seconds later. He was screaming at the top of his voice capacitor while running toward them, words that would make god himself blush spewing from his mouth. Sam cringed as he ran, Mikaela not five steps ahead of him, purse swinging back and forth as she ran.

Sam shook his head in hopes of getting rid of any unwanted thoughts that might cause him to lose focus on running. The pings of Frenzy's footsteps on the gravel behind him warned him to not stop running, and he would have kept running to if it weren't for Frenzy's mad grab at his ankle that caused him to fall face first into the dirt and gravel underneath him. Sam's mind flashed back to the night before, same situation different places. He really didn't want to kick Frenzy again, and his trusty scissors had been used to help him get away from Barricade.

He knew he'd never see them again, but he did have Mikaela, and with any luck she'd help. Struggling to get away from Frenzy, keep his pants on, and not make the cut on his foot any worse, Sam was really tempted to scream. Help came seconds later in the form of Mikaela's dropped purse, which Sam used to knock Frenzy upside the head, causing the hacker to let go long enough for him to get to his feet and start running again. His luck lasted until he came to a bank and Frenzy caught up with him again.

Frenzy knocked him down, causing them both to roll down the small hill and into the fence at the bottom. At least this time, he was standing up and fighting off the little bastard. Frenzy's wild clicking drowned out his shouts of pain as silver fingers cut into the skin on his arms. Thankfully rescue came in the form of Mikaela with a power saw. With a grunt unbefitting of most girls, she pushed the saw through his neck and cut of the little glitch's head. Without thinking about his already abused body, Sam kicked Frenzy's head with all his might and yelped as a sharp pain shot through his foot.

With some satisfaction, Sam noted that his foot wasn't bleeding, just stung a bit. The sound of large footsteps drew their attention back to where Bumblebee and Barricade had been fighting. Sam smiled as Bumblebee stood proud and victorious in front of then, hands on his hips. Sam turned to Mikaela and pulled her a few feet forward.

"Wait a second. They just had some huge droid death match and you want to get back in?"

Sam cocked an eyebrow and looked at her before nodding and pulling her forward. Bumblebee let out several clicks and whistles, then stood silent waiting for Sam to translate.

"You're the one that speaks giant alien robot, so translate already."

"He said we need to go. The others will be here soon and we can't be late."

"Others!? There are more of those things?"

Sam stopped pulling at her arm and looked at her.

"Ya quite a few more. Don't worry, the ones that are coming are friends. All the bad ones have been here for years already."

Mikaela could only gape at him. He talked about these things like he'd known them for years. It was then that her mind started trying to dig something up, because there was something really familiar about him. It was then that the feeling hit her - it seemed like they'd met before or she had seen his face somewhere. Though right now, she couldn't place it.

With a sigh, Mikaela climbed into the passenger side seat of the car, the door slamming softly behind her.

"Do you want to go home?" Sam asked, voice barely above a whisper. It was almost like he didn't want to ask.

Mikaela didn't answer right away. It should have been easy to answer, but it wasn't. Did she want to go home? Not really, her house would be empty, no one would be waiting for her to arrive. She'd probably get home, then end up wondering what she missed all night long. What great adventure she could have taken part in but didn't.

"No. I want to go with you. You and Bumblebee."

Sam nodded and smiled. Thing number two that had gone right tonight. So far that he knew all the pieces were in place and all the players were gathering.

"I have a question though."

"Ya?"

"Bumblebee's supposed to be this super advanced alien robot from another planet right?"

"Ya. Your point."

"Then why is he disguised as this piece of crap Camaro?"

He hadn't seen that one coming. With a screech of his tires, Bumblebee came to an abrupt halt and practically threw both of the teens out of his interior. Though Sam had a feeling that he'd been a bit more gentle when throwing him out. He was right, of course, because Bumblebee felt his charge was battered and bruised enough, and if he hurt him, Ratchet would have his aft faster than a human could blink.

So, speeding away from the two teens who had backed up to the edge of the in-tunnel road, Bumblebee scanned a newer Camaro that was going the other direction and came back with a flashy new look and paint job. As the teens got back into his interior and buckled themselves in - they weren't taking any chances - Bumblebee sped back down the road.

"You're such a drama queen Bee."

Sam said this with a smile and laughed when both he and Mikaela received an 'Am not', voiced by some whiny little kid, from the radio. It was kinda funny. They were arguing with a car that cared about it's appearance enough to change it in the middle of the road. Bumblebee slowed to a stop a few minutes later and the doors on both sides opened with soft clicks. Several clicks followed soon after.

"He wants us to get out and see. The others should be visible in a minute or two."

Mikaela nodded as she got out of the car and walked around to the hood to stand with Sam. Though, unlike her, he was sitting on the hood Indian style and looking up at the stars like he'd never seen anything more amazing. Sam sighed as he moved a strand of hair behind his ear and looked back up at the stars. He was, at the moment, oddly at peace.

"Look."

Mikaela's head tipped upwards just in time to see the four streaks of yellow-white light fly over their heads. She couldn't help but smile as she turned and looked at Sam.

"Lets go."

--

The thunderous crash filled the air. Dirt flying every which way as the protoform landed in the almost empty field. Optimus Prime stood, all 32 feet of him rising into the air with very little noise. For a second, he eyed the burning tree beside him and wondered if he should put it out or not. With the robot equivalent of a sigh, he scooped up a handful of dirt and proceeded to put out the fire. Processors already accessing the internet, Optimus found his location and then pulled up the location Bumblebee had given him the night before. Heavy footsteps made little noise of the ground, and for a second Optimus stopped. It wasn't often that his steps were this quiet.

With a shake of his head, he started walking toward a hill on the other side of the field. His scans showed a road on the other side. Lady luck was with him, for just as he reached the top, a large Peterbilt passed him by. Metal plates shifting, Optimus transformed and headed toward his new destination.

--

Jazz cringed as he snuck out of the stadium. Thank Primus that no one had been there or else he'd have been in real trouble. Much to his relief, the area surrounding the stadium was just as dead as the stadium itself. So, feet making loud clicks against the concrete, he headed toward the nearest building. Which, if his scan was correct, would provide him with an alt mode. He needed a small car. Preferably one with style.

He took a second to curse Primus for his 15 foot stature, he was shorter than Bumblebee for Primus sake, and then proceeded to climb onto the roof of the car dealership. A slick silver car inside the building caught his attention. Right size and brand spank'n new. With a satisfied smile, Jazz scanned the car and was gone a minute later.

--

Ironhide felt stupid. Completely totally and utterly stupid. Of all the places he could have landed, he'd landed in a pool, not even a community pool but the pool in some human's backyard. Then there was the three year old. "Are you the tooth fairy?" Primus, he just wanted to offline then. As soon as she had said that, an image had popped into his processor of some human dressed in a pink tutu with a wand and wings. A brief picture of him in his 23 feet of glory dressed in pink made him shudder.

Ya, he felt stupid, very very stupid, and Primus forbid any of the others ever found out about this. He'd never live it down. Turning away from the trees in the man's yard, Ironhide eyed the two vehicles in the driveway - a dark blue van and a truck. No way in the pit was going to turn into a van. So he went with the only other option - he had the truck. Half a minute later, a second black GMC Topkick rolled out of the drive way, motor letting out a fierce growl.

--

Ratchet was in trouble, oh yes he was. He could hear the humans not far away, but not coming too close to where he landed either. That was one thing he was thankful for. Now all he had to do was get an alt form and get out of the area as fast as he could. The sound of sirens reached his auditory sensors and he curse silently to himself. He could see the humans walking toward the hole where he had hit the ground.

Closer inspection revealed them to be firefighters. He was too small to scan a fire truck. Optimus could probably use it as an alt form, but he couldn't. He was only 20 feet tall, after all. Then his salvation came in the form of a yellow Search and Rescue Hummer. With a quick thank you to Primus, Ratchet had the Hummer scanned and was ready to go.

--

Sam, Mikaela, and Bumblebee stood waiting. The others had made landfall and would be there any second. The roar of engines filled the night air as four more vehicles joined them, each beginning to transform before they had even come to a stop. Mikaela looked around in wide eyed wonder, never in her whole life had she thought she'd see something like this. Optimus bent down and looked Sam straight in the eyes.

"Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendent of Archibald Witwicky?"

"Ya."

" I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."

"I know."

Whatever Optimus was about to say died before he could say it as he looked at Sam.

"You know but how?"

"I've been waiting a long time for you guys to get here. A really long time."

"How is that possible. No one knows that we even exist, at least not to my knowledge."

Sam laughed, an actual happy sounding laugh. He'd stumped a giant alien robot.

"I'll tell you later. I only knew you guys were coming, and to tell you the truth, I'd like to know why you came."

Not only was Optimus still in a state of shock but so were the others. How in the pit did a human know about them. Bumblebee was amused, very amused. His comrades were just as surprised by his charge as he had been at first. Bumblebee let out a loud whistle and a few clicks drawing everyone's attention to him. Sam nodded in agreement then turned to Mikaela.

"He says we need to get to the point and that they should all stop gawking. It's rude."

"You understand him?"

Sam smiled as he turned and looked at Ratchet.

"Ya. I'm weird that way, now to the point please."

Optimus made a noise that sounded like he'd cleared his throat.

"We came here looking for the All Spark. An artifact of great power that in the hands of our enemy can cause great ruin…"

Sam and Mikaela stood in silence and only moved when the projection of Cybertron appeared under their feet. Story time lasted ten minutes at most, Optimus going over everything, even a bit of Sam's family history.

"So you guys need those glasses to find the All Spark in order to save your world?" Optimus nodded as he looked at Mikaela.

"More or less. Now, I do believe we need to introduce the rest of our members." Optimus pointed behind then to Jazz.

"My first Lieutenant, Jazz."

"What's crack'n little bitches? This looks like a cool place to kick it."

Sam could have sworn he saw Optimus shake his head in amusement from the corner of his eye.

"You do realize that you're sitting on someone's car, don't you?"

Sam asked as he pointed at the car that Jazz was indeed sitting on.

"Whoops. My bad."

Sam turned back toward Optimus just in time to see Ironhide power up his cannons.

"My weapons specialist, Ironhide."

Plasma cannons five inches in front of his face, Sam was sure he could roast marshmallows two feet away.

"Are you feeling lucky, punk?"

"Easy, Ironhide."

"I just wanted to show them my cannons."

"Very nice. I know someone who'd appreciate them more than me though."

Ironhide grunted in what Sam thought might have been approval but turned his head away.

"Please, don't encourage him." Ratchet said as he eyed Sam.

"Our medical officer, Ratchet."

Sam held still for a second, letting Ratchet get a good view of him.

"How did you get those burns on your wrists?"

For the first time in the past few minutes, Mikaela moved, one hand reaching out to grab one of Sam's wrists only to have her fingers touch plastic and not skin. Before he could stop her, she had pulled said hand up to eye level and was reading the words imprinted on the plastic.

"Room 1976, Schizophrenic Ward. What the hell is this?"

Sam cringed and looked at her, his worst fear for the moment coming true. Someone had found out, and now the trouble would begin.

"They don't tend to call you by your name in the asylum. All they need to know about you is your number."

It was then that everything her brain had been trying to figure out snapped into place, and she remembered where she had seen him before.

"You were on the news this morning. "

"Was I?"

Sam asked as his fingers started twitching.

"You're the escapee from the asylum. You killed that nurse and stabbed one of the doctors in the knee. The only reason I didn't figure it out earlier was because your clothes are different. Oh my god, you're gonna kill me."

Mikaela was having a full out panic attack. Ratchet stepped forward, as confused as the others but wanting to help. Sam looked at him and shook his head. He knew how to help her if it got any worse. After a minute or two, Mikaela calmed down a bit, or at least enough for Sam to start talking.

"Calm down some more, I'm not gonna kill you. If I wanted you dead, I'd have let Barricade and Frenzy do it. I'm not completely nuts. I'll say that much at least, 'cause if I told you I wasn't some sort of insane, I'd be lying.. I didn't kill the nurse, Frenzy did, trust me I know, I saw her after he did it."

It was then that Optimus cleared his throat, or at least made a noise that sounded like it. Sam looked up, his twitching fingers still at his side.

"And what about the doctor? Did Frenzy do that as well?"

Sam smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.

"No, that was me. And I'll say it right now, I'd do it again if I could. I hate that man."

Much to their surprise, Ironhide let out a loud laugh.

"Not as meek as you look, are you young'un?" Sam nearly burst out laughing at Ironhide's almost southern drawl.

"No. I'm not. Now then, this should answer a few of your question too. I knew these guys were coming because I, believe it or not, can see into the future, as corny as it sounds. I've been dreaming of these guys since I was like five years old. I told you guys, I'm just that weird."

Mikaela, having finally regained her composure, looked at him like he was completely off his rocker.

"Ya right, you can see into the future and I can bend spoons." Sam shot Mikaela a nasty look.

"Ya, well you were with me earlier when I had one. Remember when I zoned out on our way to the power plant. I getting a sneak peak of Bee's fight."

Needless to say, while Sam was trying to make his point to Mikaela, the Autobots were having a staring contest of their own. This was all quite interesting, but couldn't they hurry it up or better yet continue this conversation on the road.


	5. Happenings

Happenings

Sam had figured out a long time ago that he was insane, just not in the way everyone thought he was. He didn't attack people for any reason or live in a world where nothing bad or good never happened. He didn't see things that weren't real. The things he saw just hadn't happened yet, or, if he was in the mood, he could see things that had already happened.

His world wasn't cut in two. It wasn't black and white, but shades of grey. He was like any other person out there - he just had a few problems. His body freaked out when deprived of an electrical current for too long and going into public places made him nervous. He thought with the same side of his brain that everyone else used - the only difference is that he can use the other side of his brain as well. So really, he wasn't nuts, just different - in how many ways he himself didn't know nor did he really care.

There was one thing he was sure of, though. Getting an old pair of glasses to a group of super advanced alien robots wasn't suppose to be this difficult. No, it was not, and the asshole named Simmons wasn't making it any easier for him. Get in the house, spend fifteen minutes looking for the glasses, keep Ratchet away from the power lines, get the glasses, give them to Optimus and then be on their merry little way.

His very simple plan had gone very well up until they had found the glasses, and then Sector 7 had broken in, said a bunch of stuff he wouldn't remember, and handcuffed them. Then, of course, they had been loaded into the black SUV's and were now being taken who knows where. Though Sam had a feeling he could guess and he'd be right. So now here he sat, handcuffed next to Mikaela in the seat behind Simmons, who was rambling and shaking his head while mumbling something about MBE's. Then, finally, as if he'd deemed them attention worthy, he turned around and started talking.

"So Mr. Witwicky, how the hell did you get out of the funny farm exactly?"

Sam eyed the man in front of him for a second and then proceeded to ignore him all together.

"What's wrong, not gonna talk to me? What's the matter, Sammy-boy, hasn't Lynch been good to you these past few years?"

Sam's head jerked up and he proceeded to glare at Simmons for a second before he kicked him in the face with his left foot, which caused him pain but it was so worth it. Simmons groaned as he held his hand to his nose. He was thankful that Sam wasn't very strong, but damn, that kid's foot was all bone and it was filthy. Hadn't the kid ever heard of shoes? Taking a minute to regain his composure, Simmons let go of his nose, which wasn't bleeding thankfully, and turned back toward Sam and Mikaela.

"You know kid, we could take you to the cops right now if we wanted and I guarantee that you'd be dead faster than you could blink. Now then, why don't you tell me about those MBE's that landed a while ago."

Mikaela eyed Sam for a moment before looking at Simmons, not really sure what to do at the moment. It was obvious that Sam wasn't going to say a word about the Autobots, but should she?

"Close your eyes."

That was all the warning she had before the front and back windows busted open and glass flew in every direction. Squinting, Mikaela could just barely make out the tips of the large metal fingers that had a hold of the van and were currently lifting them into the air.

"Don't worry, it's Optimus. They've been following us since we were taken from the house." Sam said this in a slightly distracted voice.

Mikaela had a feeling that he'd seen what was going to happen a few seconds before it actually had happened. She hated to admit it to herself, but she was actually starting to believe Sam's story. But right now, the thing that scared her the most was the groaning metal of the top of the SUV. Next thing she knew, they'd hit the ground with a bang and Optimus was throwing the roof away like a warped frisbee that was no longer wanted.

"Taking the children was a bad idea." Optimus said this with a faint hint of annoyance in his voice.

The matters of Sector 7 were an inconvenience at most for them at least. The sound of cocking gums filled the air as many of the men were taking aim and getting ready to shoot the Autobots. How stupid were they?

"Relieve them of their weapons." The order was simple and still fairly annoyed, but Jazz followed it in a spark buzz anyway. A low humming sound filled the air as all the guns were pulled from the hands of the Sector 7 agents and toward Jazz's magnet. The humans were easy to disarm, and as a species, they were fairly stupid - needless to say, Sam agreed at that moment wholeheartedly. Giant alien robots, and they thought they could bring them down with gums.

"You do not seem afraid. Are you not surprised to see us?" Optimus asked this question with a hint of wonder, probably wondering if they were like Sam in some way.

"Look, I'm not allowed to communicate with you except to tell you I can't communicate with you." Optimus let out an aggravated sigh, the first of many human traits he'd pick up, and eyed the teens and then the agents, and had to fight back the urge to chuckle. The teens had handcuffed all the agents together except for Simmons and the man who been driving the van.

"So what do you know about these guys?" Sam asked as he looked at Simmons a small smirk gracing his lips. He'd talk to Simmons now, mainly cause the Autobots were there - not that Simmons needed to know that.

"Nothing I'm allowed to tell you." Simmons snapped as he looked around him. He was surrounded, not a good thing to be ever. Sam sighed and looked up at Bumblebee, who for no apparent reason popped his oil port and proceeded to lubricate all over Simmons. To his honor, Simmons didn't freak out very much.

"Bumblebee, stop lubricating the man." Bumblebee let out a low almost sad sounding whistle and then proceeded to close his oil port. Simmons let out an aggravated growl that turned into an almost victorious sound a second later as more black SUV's came rumbling down the road. With an almost gleeful noise, Ironhide powered up one of his cannons, aimed it at the ground, and shot. A electric blue wave of energy surged from the point of impact and, seconds later, every SUV that had been mobile was forced to a stop, the tires melted.

"Okay, that was really cool." Ironhide snorted as he and the others transformed and started moving away. Sam turned and looked at Optimus as the large mech lowered one hand.

"Up you get." Sam took Optimus's invitation with a smile and all but pulled Mikaela up onto Optimus's hand. Depositing the children on his shoulder, Optimus then turned a full circle, being sure he wouldn't step on anything, and then started to run. Not truly sure where to go, Optimus ran through one of the main blocks of Tranquility with a chopper not far behind him.

Turning a sharp corner with ease, Optimus made his way toward the nearest bridge in sight, hoping to find a hiding place underneath it. Being as careful as possible, Optimus pulled himself up underneath the bridge, the teens on his shoulder keeping a tight grip on his armor to not fall. Seconds later, Optimus looks like a kid hanging from a jungle gym, only sideways.

The sound of whirling blades filled ears and audios as the helicopter passed underneath them. They, thankfully, went unnoticed, but that was where their luck ended. Not a minute after the copter had passed, Mikaela lost her grip and started to fall. Hands shaking and every muscle in both arms drawn as tense as they would go, Sam held onto Mikaela's hand and a piece of Optimus's armor with all his might. Blood trickling down the cut that the metal had inflicted, Sam knew that Optimus would probably apologize later even though it wasn't his fault. Sam hissed in pain as his fingers slipped from the armor, and both he and Mikaela fell toward the ground.

The next thing either teen knew, they were being held in Bumblebee's hands, a little sore but in one piece. Sam winced when he heard the click of his grandfather's glasses hitting the ground. God, he hoped they hadn't broken. Bumblebee shook his head as he sat his charges down on the ground. This was not their day and it was about to get worse; he just knew it and he was right of course. A loud whistle sound - that wasn't Bumblebee - filled the air as the three of them stood up.

The next thing he knew, Bumblebee was being pulled in a different direction by the helicopter-pulled wire that was wrapped around his wrist. Seconds later, Bumblebee was on the ground, and he was being pulled away from his guardian. The big question was should he fight back? He'd never seen this happen, and for once he wasn't sure what to do. Sam's answer came seconds later when Bumblebee started screaming. Without a second thought, Sam kicked backwards, hitting the man holding him in the shin, causing him to loosen his grip enough for Sam to wiggle free of his grip only to get five feet and fall. Sam cursed his luck and his shaking body.

His mind was screaming 'too many people, run you idiot!' and, needless to say, Sam was ignoring it with the best of his ability, hands twitching badly as he pushed himself to his feet, taking a shaky step forward. The more people that gathered around Bumblebee, the more his brain yelled at him. Blistered hands grabbed his elbows and started pulling Sam back toward the black SUV's. Cursing his lack of muscle, all Sam could do was keep his eyes locked on Bumblebee's optics and hope his silent apology made it to the fallen mech.

--

"So what did they get you for?"

"We got into a car that turned out to be a giant alien robot."

Maggie and Glen stared at the two teens in front of them, Glen muttering an almost silent 'Wow' as he looked back and forth at the two. Sam, in response to Mikaela's answer, just nodded his head. His eyes were downcast, looking at the cut on his hand and hiding his plastic bracelet from view. He felt bad, really bad. Bumblebee had been captured and he wasn't sure if the Autobots had found the glasses after he'd dropped them. With a sigh, Sam shifted his gaze toward the window. They were almost to the Hoover Dam.

--

Sam could only gulp as he stepped out of the helicopter and onto the landing pad at Hoover Dam. He could see the soldiers from his visions standing twenty feet away, saluting the Secretary of Defense. Simmons and a man he didn't recognize were standing not ten feet away. Bare feet burning from hot concrete, Sam made his way toward the others, ready to have a nervous breakdown. So many people.

He was more comfortable with the Autobots. Much to his shock, as he passed one of the soldiers, he smiled at him and slung an arm around his shoulder. A slight humming sound filled the back of his mind, and he turned to the Spanish soldier and gave him a nervous smile.

"So my gifted friend, what can you do?" Fig asked as he smiled at the overly nervous boy beside him.

"I can see the future."

"Really? That rocks, man - all I can do get feelings, and half the time nothing happens."

"Fig, leave the poor kid alone."

"Yes sir. Jeez, I was just trying to help him relax. Poor kid looks like he's been through hell and back several times."

Will growled at Fig. Now was not the time for him to be acting like an idiot. Silence overtook the group, and, much to Fig's credit, he managed to walk all the way to their destination with his arm still slung around Sam's shoulder without falling. Sam, for the most part, was actually thankful for Fig's arm, mainly because it helped keep him focused on the world around him and not the nagging feeling in the back of his head that was begging him to go find Bumblebee and get the hell out of the damn dam. Sam entered the MBE-1 hanger with a gulp.

There before him, frozen, stood one of the monsters that had haunted his dreams for years. The frozen form of Megatron was indeed an amazing sight, and would be the last thing many of the men in the room would ever see. Sam only caught bits and pieces of Simmons' explanation, too focused on the monstrous form in front of him. He was bigger than Optimus by at least three feet, maybe less, he couldn't really tell.

"That's Megatron. He's the leader of the Decepticons."

"NBE-1 has been frozen here since before you were born. NBE-1, that what we call it."

Sam could have rolled his eyes. The world had a chance of ending in a few hours, and Simmons was fighting over names.

"Well, according to Optimus, Megatron, that's what they call him, came here looking for the Allspark, so he could use it to transform Earth's machines and use them to take over."

"Wait, there are more of these things?"

"Ya, a lot more, and I guarantee that they're on their way here right now."

"So what do we do?"

Sam turned and looked at Will and his men, a grim smile crossing his lips.

"We fight."

--

"He's right, we stay here, we're screwed with Megatron in the other hangar. Mission City's twenty-two miles away. We're gonna sneak that cube out of here and we're gonna hide it somewhere in the city."

--

"This place must have some kind of radio link. Short wave, maybe?"

"Yes, of course, in the alien archives."

--

"I AM MEGATRON!!"


	6. No Sacrifice, No Victory

No Sacrifice, No Victory

War had erupted on the streets of Mission City. People were running, scared and screaming at the top of their lungs. Sabot and plasma rounds whistled through the air as the long time enemies fired at each other. Shouts, both human and transformer, filled the air as they tried to gain the upper hand in the fight to end an age old war.

This battle was one of the most important ever. Sam panted as he and Mikaela worked on strapping Bumblebee to a tow truck. Legs blown off, but not destroyed, by Starscream's first attack -. Starscream himself was busy shooting down the jets that had come to help. Sam winced as a loud bang sounded behind him where Will and his men were shooting at Blackout. Meanwhile Ratchet, Ironhide and Jazz fought off Devastator.

Eyes itching from all the dust and left foot bleeding anew, Sam jumped down from the tow truck and walked around to stand in front of Bumblebee. Brown eyes met blue optics as Sam picked the Allspark up off the ground. Now all he had to do was wait.

--

Ironhide cursed as Devastator managed to dodge one of his shots. The overly large and heavily weaponed mech was getting on his nerves more than Sunny and Sides on high grade. The sound of metal hitting the ground alerted him that Ratchet had been able to land a hit with his saw. Jazz was being, well Jazz, and being annoying and stylish at the same time. Shouting insults at the top of his voice while shooting. Motion from the humans caught his attention as a large jet came screaming out of the sky. Megatron had arrived.

--

Sam blinked as he looked at Will. Okay, so he knew what Will wanted him to do, but he really didn't want to do it. He had many visions of this battle, and even he didn't know what would happen after he entered the building. He'd never had a vision past that moment, not a one, and now that he was faced with this challenge, he really didn't want to do it.

"Sam, I need you to take this flare and go to the top of that building," Will pointed to a white building about a block and a half away. "Set the flare after you get to the building and they'll get you and the cube out of here."

Sam shook his head. He couldn't do it. He didn't want to know what lay beyond the end of his visions, and he didn't want to leave Bumblebee.

"No. I can't do this."

"Now Sam list…"

"No. I-I c-can't d-d-do this."

Next thing he knew, Will was pulling him down by his shirt and looking him straight in the eye.

"You're a soldier now. You're gonna have to do this or else were all dead. You got that?"

Sam nodded, hands shaking around the items he now held as if they were life lines.

"Sam, we will protect you."

Sam's head turned and he was looking up at both Ironhide and Ratchet. Sam nodded as Will started to move away.

"Will." Will turned and looked at the boy in front of him.

"What, Sam?" Will's tone was tense and snappish, causing Sam to shake his head and pull the man close. After whispering something into his ear, Will nodded and started heading back toward his men.

"Let's move." Seconds later, Sam's feet were hitting the pavement at a rate not even he thought possible as Ratchet and Ironhide fired shots at Devastator. Heart pounding, Sam focused on the building ahead of him, knowing that if he didn't then he would never make it there. He could hear the fight between Megatron and Jazz far behind him, the Decepticon lord's voice making him shudder.

Sam sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening that the losses of this battle would be small. Sam's body lurched to the side as he ran into a van that had just come to a screeching halt, the girl driving it cussing at him from inside the vehicle. Sam shuddered as he felt the wave of energy released from the Allspark. For a brief second, his body seemed to tingle with it. Up and running again a few seconds later, Sam felt the ground shake under his bare feet. He could hear Megatron behind him and the people's screams.

So, Megatron had won the fight he'd seen between him and Optimus. Not a good sign. Head beginning to pound from all the noise, Sam made his way into the building, Megatron bursting in only seconds after he'd made it to the stairwell.

"I smell you, boy."

Okay, Sam had to admit that Megatron was weird. What the hell was up with letting him know he could smell him. Was he trying to say he could smell him fear or was he just saying that Sam stunk. Well, if he meant the second one, Sam already knew that. It been almost two days since he'd showered and he'd been running around a lot, so of course he smelled.

Why the hell wouldn't he. Sam huffed as he ran across the room, heading toward the main stairwell. He could hear Megatron beneath him, and it was only seconds later that the titanic mech burst through the floor like a jack-in-the-box coming out of its box. A deep roar sounded loud in Sam's ears as Sam started up the new flight of stairs. The air vibrated with the hiss that escaped Megatron after he'd seen that Sam wasn't in the room. To make matters worse, the pounding in his head seemed to be increasing with every strep he took. For a split second, the stairs in front of him vanished as if they had never been, only to reappear a few seconds later.

"Not now, please not now." Sam all but begged with his brain. He really didn't need to have a vision now of all times and in all places. Not with Megatron so close because if he caught up with him while his mind freaked out, then they'd all be screwed. It seemed, though, that his mind and body weren't going to give him a choice. Sam shouted in shock as his foot missed a step and he fell, head hitting the ground and the Allspark still clutched tightly in his grip, another wave of energy surging through his body. Before he could even blink, the world around him dissolved.

--

Ironhide practically roared as he fought hand to hand with Devastator, the two large transformers aiming blow after blow at any spot they could reach. All he had to do was stall the Con long enough for Ratchet to patch the energon leak in his upper left arm, and then they could take this slagger down. Devastator growled as he aim a shot at the medical bot only to have the gun in question crushed between the hands of the old weapons specialist. A third set of footsteps joined the almost overwhelming noise as Ratchet rejoined the battle. It was defiantly time to end this fight.

--

Sam knew that if he could see himself, his mouth would be hanging wide open in shock. For standing in front of him, eyes bright and smile caring, was his mother. Just the way he remembered her. Short brown hair curled and light brown eyes happy, as if she had a secret that would make him happy forever. Her arms were wide open waiting for him. He wanted to go, he wanted to hug her so much it felt like his heart was being torn in two, but he couldn't, he couldn't move. He had a job to do after all. He had to keep the Allspark away from Megatron. His mom held out her arms for a few more seconds, and then let them fall to her sides, smile never leaving her face. "No sacrifice."

--

Will shouted at his men at the top of his lungs. The damn helicopter just wouldn't stay down no matter what they fired at it. Things were not going the way he had hoped, but then again he and his men were fighting super advanced alien robots. Will cursed as the Decepticon in front of then fired off another shot. He could hear Fig yelling something at the top of his lungs in Spanish behind him and Epps replies of "English dude". Even in the middle of a war zone, they did it. Will cursed again as another shot was fired over his head. Only this time, a shot was fired back, bright blue plasma slamming into their target. Will turned and looked behind him, almost groaning at what he saw. The yellow robot and the girl were back, and they were firing at their target. Okay, he'd be pissed at her later, right now they had a bad guy to offline.

--

First his mother and now his father. Sam knew he was having some sort of vision, but this was almost too much. The last thing he needed was to see his parents, because he was sure that he might not be able to do what was necessary. He was already wishing that his vision would never end. He didn't want to see his parents go again, but he had a job to do. Didn't they know that? If he watched his parents smiling faces much longer, he wouldn't be able to go. His father offered him a loving smile. He didn't hold out his arms like his mother had. No, he just stood there and smiled at him. That same smile he always had when he and Sam were together. "No victory."

--

Optimus moaned as he got back onto his feet. Megatron had gotten him good. He was bot enough to admit it, but the one thing he knew about his brother was that he was foolish. He had, after all, had the chance to offline him and he hadn't, probably thinking that he still be laying there after he got the Allspark. Primus, he was glad his brother had such a large ego. Little brothers really were stupid at the worst of times. Though he supposed it was a good thing his brother had decided to be stupid now and not later, or he'd probably be offlined by now. Optimus's head turned as he looked around him, he could hear the fight between Lennox's troupe and the sound of Ironhide's plasma cannons. That was a good sign, now all he had to do was find his brother and finish their fight. Moving carefully to the side of a nearby building, Optimus pulled himself onto the roof and began running.

--

Sam lay still completely and totally still. The world around him no longer mattered at the moment, all that mattered was the pounding in his head. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest and he felt like he'd just ran a hundred miles. With a groan, Sam sat up and the world around him flickered, the same space never around him for more than a few seconds. Wobbling back and forth as he stood, Sam made a mad grab for the railing of the stairs and started to slowly pull himself up.

One step at a time, one heart beat, and one breath. He could hear the fight outside and Megatron digging his way through the floors beneath him, making his way to the top of the building. His parents' words ringing in his ears, Sam made his way up the last few floors and onto the roof. He only glanced back once and was met with one bloody footprint marking his way. After this, he was going to sleep for a year - insomnia be damned. As he opened the door to the roof, white hot sunlight invaded his sight and forced the flickering surroundings to stop and stay the same.

With a half satisfied grin, Sam hit the flare against the wall and began running. White smoke poured from the flare as he ran, the sound of chopper blades filling the air as they came closer. Sam was ready to hand the Allspark over seconds later when a loud whooshing noise filled the air. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Starscream on a building not far away.

"Look out!" Sam shouted, warning coming too late as the missile hit the chopper, and it swerved into the building before falling from the sky. Then, with all the ferocity of a demon from hell, Megatron burst from the roof, a loud roar filling the air as he did so. Megatron growled as he pulled himself out of the hole and onto the roof, red optics scanned the area, looking for the Allspark.

The boy who held it was currently making his way toward one corner of the building, trying to distance himself as much as possible.

"Is it fear or courage that compels you, fleshling?" Megatron asked as he watched the boy climb onto a lone white statue. Megatron chuckled as he took a step closer to Sam.

"Give me the Allspark and you may live to be my pet." Ignoring how wrong that sentence sounded, Sam shook his head. No way in hell was he giving the Allspark to Megatron. He'd die before that happened.

"No, I ain't ever giving you this Allspark." Megatron chuckled again. It made no difference to him if the human lived or died. He'd have the Allspark either way.

"So unwise." Sam bit back a scream as Megatron's flail whizzed through the air and cut into the building's corner, knocking him into the air. Eyes shut as tight as they'd go, Sam prayed that by some miracle help would come, and come it did. Warm metal fingers wrapped around Sam's body as Optimus caught him, cutting his freefall blissfully short.

"I got you, boy." Sam smiled as he looked into the bright blue optics of the Autobot leader. He'd never been so happy to see anyone or anything in his whole life.

"Hold onto the cube." Optimus's hand tightening around his body, Sam ducked his head and looked down. He could hear glass shattering as Optimus made his way down the sides of the two building they were sandwiched in between. Then his whole world started spinning and moving much faster, and he was jostled upward when a large crash filled his ears. Sam looked back up when Optimus's hand moved away from his back and he was once again looking into bright blue optics.

"Sam, you risked your life to save the Allspark?" Optimus asked. Sam offered him another small smile. "No sacrifice, no victory."

"If I can not defeat Megatron, I want you to push the cube into my chest. I will sacrifice myself to destroy it. Get behind me."

Sam jumped down to the ground, feet hardly feeling the impact, having gone almost completely numb some time ago. Which was good, because Sam knew that his left foot would hurt like hell and make moving really hard when it had feeling in it again. Sam cringed as he watched Optimus and Megatron fight. The two were trading blows like it was noting. A sharp clang filled the air as Megatron's fist caught the side of Optimus's head.

The commander stumbling backwards a few steps before regaining his footing and kicking Megatron right in the chest, causing the Con to go tumbling backwards. Sam moved half his attention on the fight and the other half on keeping out from underneath the mech's feet. A thunderous crash filled the air as Optimus tumbled down to the ground, having lost his balance, trying not to squish people. Sam cursed silently as he made his way back over to Optimus, Megatron coming after him once again.

In one swift movement, Optimus caught Megatron's leg with his own leg sweep and he hit the ground with a loud 'thud', the resulting shock causing Sam to fall to the ground. With an almost victorious laugh, Megatron reached out toward Sam, intending to take the Allspark from the boy.

"It's mine, the Allspark." A buzzing sound filled the air.

"Do it now, Sam."

There was a shift in the world around him as he wondered why. Why was Optimus telling him to kill him. Didn't he know that he couldn't do that. He couldn't kill him, it was just wrong. He didn't want to and had never agreed. The world in front of him shifted one more time and Sam smiled.

He could see it know. The way out. So, with fierce determination, he shifted the Allspark in his arms so that he was holding in both hands in front of him. If Megatron wanted the Allspark so badly, he could have it. He could take it with him to his grave. Forcing his body forward, Sam felt the Allspark stop seconds later. A burning heat touched his palms, burning flesh as a white- yellow supernova filled the space between his palms and Megatron. Sam held tight as the Allspark burned into Megatron's core, and he nodded at the whispered 'thank you' that filled his head seconds before the burning stopped.

Sam turned and looked at Optimus, who had the same 'oh my god' look that he had had on the night they had met and Optimus had found out that Sam knew about them. Body trembling, Optimus looked at Sam a second before standing up.

"Sam, I owe you my life." Sam just shrugged his shoulders as if it was something he did everyday. The sound of large footsteps, small footsteps, and a moving vehicle filled the air as Ironhide and the others approached them. Sam's eyes roamed the group looking for something, and, much to his joy, they found it a few seconds later. Jazz stood whole beside Ratchet grinning like he'd just had the time of his life. His warning to Will had paid off. With a relieved sigh, Sam turned to look at Mikaela and Bumblebee.

"You honor us with you're bravery, my friends." Optimus said this as he looked down at his brother's lifeless form. No one spoke as they looked around. They had just won a major victory.

"Permission to speak sir?" Surprised eyes and optics turned to look at Bumblebee, and Optimus smiled.

"Permission granted, old friend."

"I wish to stay with the boy."

"If that is what he wants." Sam plopped down on the ground, happy mood gone. Bye-bye. All eyes were on him, waiting for an answer. So, fingers beginning to twitch from all the attention, Sam did the only this he could do. He scratched the back of his neck and frowned.

"That may be a problem."


	7. Somewhere I Belong

Somewhere I Belong

The silence in Optimus's cab was almost overwhelming, but it was also very welcome. The pounding in Sam's head wasn't as bad as it had been before, but it was enough to let him know it was still there. His left foot was still bleeding and his cut on right hand stung badly. He didn't even want to thank about all the other places on his body that hurt. He felt like he'd been ran over several times by Optimus in his alt mode.

Though, he had to admit he was oddly calm about what was currently going on. Bumblebee was in a forced recharge, as a car of course, being pulled by the tow truck that had pulled him around in Mission City, Ratchet not far behind him. Ironhide was in front of them and Jazz was cruising along behind Optimus without a care in the world, probably trying to listen to as many radio stations as possible. Will, Mikaela, and all of Will's men were spread out amongst the Autobots and the surviving normal vehicles. Now, all he had to do was figure out what was going to happen to him, and he'd be good.

"Sam?"

"Ya Optimus."

"What will you do after this? Will they really send you back to the Asylum?"

"They might. I don't know. Right now, it's either the Asylum or the Police Station. They do think I killed that nurse after all." Optimus' engine rumbled for a moment, sending a slight vibration through his seat. Sam shifted, fidgeting a little, fingers on his left hand twitching a bit.

"If you go back to the Asylum, what will they do?"

"Put me in a straight jacket probably, that or lock me in the hallway with all the other really dangerous patients. I'm not really sure, Optimus, Lynch was never the best doctor."

"It's not right. Ratchet said there wasn't really anything wrong with you. He mentioned that the electric pulses on one side of your brain were stronger than the other side, but it isn't causing you any damage." Sam smiled a bit. So Ratchet thought he was sane.

"During one of my ECT treatments a few years ago, I heard Lynch talking to someone, I'm not sure who, but from what I could understand of their conversation, Lynch thinks that the increase of electric impulses on one side of the brain is what causes psychic powers in a person."

"Hm. I'll have to tell Ratchet that. He'll have a field day with this." Sam smiled and leaned his head against Optimus's window, watching the scenery go by. He really didn't want to go back. He knew that if he went back, he'd probably never see the light of day again, and by the end of another year there, he'd probably wish he was dead. He liked the outside world, even if it scared the hell out of him. He wanted to stay with Bee and the others.

"Sam?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to go back? I noticed that when you're around a lot of people, your fingers start twitching." Sam laughed, he should have known that Optimus would notice something like that.

"It's a nervous reaction. I've spent the last twelve years in a nut house. Just consider yourself lucky I don't start screaming or something just as embarrassing, and no Optimus, I don't want to go back." A darkly amused chuckle escaped Optimus. Sam was right, his nervous reactions could be worse.

"I notice that you seem much more comfortable around us. Why is that?"

"Well, as lame as it probably sounds, you guys have been something constant in my life. No matter how many times I'd see you guys in my visions, you were always the same. You guys never changed." Optimus remained silent, processing the information that Sam had just given him. It was, in a twisted way, amusing. His kind could live for millions of years without changing, and here was a human who related with them, not because of how they looked or acted but because of the fact that they had stayed the same while his world changed around him. In a sense, they had kept him grounded. They had given him hope when there was none. In a sense, they had been saving a life by doing nothing.

"You waited a long time for us didn't you?"

"It was a long time for me. I mean, twelve years to you guys is nothing right?"

"Yes, twelve years to us is nothing. It's almost like a minute in your lifetime. We've lived years of your time, and it seems only minutes or perhaps hours to us. Our sense of time is very different." Head leaning against the glass of the driver's side window, Sam smiled and nodded. It was strange, what he understood was probably ten times more complicated than the things he didn't. He'd admit that he wasn't very intelligent, but he understood what he understood and he'd stopped trying to understand why a long time ago.

Sam smiled as he looked at the small car next to them. A child probably no more than six sat in the back seat, arm going up and down. Sam had to wonder for a moment if Optimus knew what that meant.

"What is that youngling doing?" Sam's smiled widened. Nope, he had no clue whatsoever.

"Blow your horn."

"Why?"

"Just do it, Optimus." Sam smiled as Optimus's horn sounded loud around them, and the child in the car clapped her hands and laughed, pointing at Optimus with a smile on her face.

--Hoover Dam--

The entire trip back to Hoover Dam hadn't taken very long in reality, but, to the battered and beaten soldiers, it felt like forever. All of them were sore and tired and dirty, but they were also happy. They'd be able to go home soon at least. Sam squirmed as he followed Lennox and his men back into Hoover Dam fallowed closely by the Autobots. Simmons, Keller, Maggie, and Glen were waiting for then when they arrived, all of them with smiles on their faces, except for Simmons, who seemed to be scowling more than smiling.

Orders were handed out quickly and without much protest. They were to get cleaned up, and then they were to go get themselves looked at by one of the five or six doctors that lived at the dam year round. Though, Ratchet had told Sam he wanted to see him right after he was looked over and patched up, Sam had a feeling that Ratchet wanted to be sure he was well taken care of or something.

So, heading toward one of rooms with a shower, Jazz fallowing not far behind him playing the role of guardian since Bumblebee was unable to, Sam let his first real shiver of fear run through his body. He wanted to know. What were they going to do with him?

--With Optimus and the others--

Silence filled the large room that the group had retreated to in order to talk. Keller sat on a chair besides Simmons and Banacheck. The Autobots, Optimus, Ratchet, and Ironhide, stood in front of them looking down.

"Okay boys, so how are we going to do this?" Keller asked, thin fingers intertwined and resting on his lap.

"I mean we've never had a situation like this and I really don't want to be rude, so why don't we start with what you want."

"We only wish for a home, Mr. Keller. If it's alright with you, we wish to stay here, well not here exactly but we'd like to stay on this planet." Keller nodded for a moment.

"Well, I don't see a problem with that. You guys saved our lives, it's the least we could do." Ratchet moved a foot a moment later, almost nervous looking. Keller's gaze shifted to him for a minute. If the robot had a question, then why didn't he ask it.

"What will happen to the boy?"

"I was wondering the same thing." Heads turned toward the doorway where Will stood clean and a little bandaged.

"Captain Lennox. What are you doing here?"

"Oh shut it, Simmons. I was wondering what you're going to do with the kid." A thoughtful silence filled the air for a moment.

"I don't know. I suppose that that's really up to his uncle or at least his doctor." Simmons snorted as he looked at the people around him.

"The kid will either go back to the nut house or to jail, those are his only options. You forget about the nurse they found. Witwicky is wanted for murder after all." Banacheck sighed from his spot besides Simmons. The man truly was an idiot, if he bothered to look he'd see that none of them cared about anything he'd just said. He also had the feeling that all hell was about to break loose and over a scrawny teenager whose hair was half way down his back.

--With Sam--

Sam sighed in content as he stepped out of the shower. He was currently clean and some of the hurt in his body had been chased away by the hot water. Long hair still damp because no matter how much he toweled it or wrung it out it refused to dry, he stepped out into the hallway and tapped Jazz's foot to get his attention.

"Hey little dude. You done now?" Okay stupid question, but oh well.

"Ya Jazz, I'm done now, all we have to do is go see one of the doctors here."

"Your foot ever stop bleeding?"

"It's still bleeding but not as much." Jazz nodded in approval and picked Sam up in one hand, the teen gasping a bit as he did so. He owed this kid his life or so Epps had told him, so the least he could do was make sure the kid was gonna be alright. He owed it to Bumblebee too, the poor mech was already attached. Jazz's movements were steady and his steps surprisingly quiet. Sam eyed the halls around him, fighting the urge to yawn. He hadn't slept in almost two days, and he was exhausted in all shapes, ways, and forms. He knew that as soon as he was able to drop his guard and relax, he'd be asleep within minutes or probably seconds if his body had any say in the matter.

Bones popped as Sam stretched, being sure not to fall off of Jazz's shoulder in the process - he was going to feel every ache and pain tomorrow, that was certain. The hall around them was quiet, and if he strained his hearing, Sam could hear the buzz like hum of Jazz's spark. The sound kind of made him think of a bee's hive, but it didn't sound angry like bees did. This sound was peaceful and had a kind of calming affect. Sam was almost certain that if he were to place a hand over Jazz's spark chamber, he'd be able to feel it vibrating.

As they moved along the hall, the sound of Epps's and Fig's voices grew louder. It sounded like they were arguing or at least attempting to. From what he could hear Fig was speaking in Spanish again and Epps was telling him to 'speak English dude'.

"Those two fight a lot, don't they?"

"You have no idea, little dude. They spent most of the ride back here arguing back and forth. In Spanish and English, it was actually quite amusing. They're not that bad, though." Sam nodded as he and Jazz turned to look at each other and they both smiled.

"Hey amigo! How you do'n, we though you drowned or something." Fig said all this with a smile as Jazz sat Sam down on the floor. A sew seconds later, he was pulled over to a examination table by one of the doctors.

--With Optimus--

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand where you're coming from, Simmons." Keller said as he eyed the man standing in front of him. Simmons stood arms crossed and scowl present. He was thankful that the other two NBE's had left to go work on the little yellow one. Getting stared down by one alien was much better than being stared at by three. That and the medic gave him the willies.

"Ya Simmons, where are you coming from?" Will asked as he shot Keller a look over Simmons shoulder.

"I'm saying that it's not very likely that Witwicky will be able to function properly in the real world. I have reports from Lynch that say the kids has seizures for Christ's sake. What would you do if he had one in a public area?" Keller sighed. Simmons did have a point.

"If I may speak Mr. Keller." Optimus said as he looked down at the three men. Banacheck had left claiming that he had reports to fill out and damage to start fixing.

"Ratchet has taken an interest in your species' medical system. He scanned Samuel when we first got here and again not long after the battle. He says that there was a difference in the electric pulses in his brain. He thinks that whatever might have been wrong with him before the battle is gone now." Simmons snorted.

"Oh really, big guy. How do you suppose that that happened?" Optimus's optics darkened as he looked at Simmons. The man was pushing his luck. It wasn't Optimus that spoke up however.

"Ya know, I ain't no scientist or anything, but I have a random guess."

"By all means Captain, let's hear your theory. It can't be any stranger than anything else that's going on right now." Will ran a hand through his hair and looked at each of the people in the room before turning to look up at Optimus.

"Well, I heard one of you guys talking about that cube thing and how it could heal your kind. That got me thinking - what if it could heal us too?"

--With Sam--

"You know you could just make this easier on yourself, kid, and not squirm so much." Epps said with a grunt as he held Sam's leg in place. The boy had started fidgeting as soon as the doctor looking over him had pulled out the needle to stitch up his foot. Said needle hadn't gotten two inches from his foot before he pulled it back and refused point blank to let the man near him. So, Epps and Fig, trying to make the kid more comfortable, had asked the doctor to do something else for a few minutes so that way they could distract him. It had worked, at least until the needle had passed through his skin for the first time.

God only knew what was going to happen when they had to stitch the cut in his hand. Fig, in his attempt to be nice, was trying and failing not to laugh at Epps. It was quite amusing watching him try to keep the kid on the bed long enough for the doctor to finish the last few stitches.

"Now be nice, Epps. If he don't like needles then he don't like needles. At least he has a rational fear. Unlike that one dude at the base who had Eremikophobia." Okay, that caught Jazz's attention. Quickly looking up the term, Jazz couldn't help but chuckle.

"He had a fear of sand?"

"Ya believe it or not. Really sad considering we were posted in the desert." Epps and Fig looked at each other for a second before they burst into laughter. Jazz noticed with a smirk that they had caught Sam's attention completely. Which was a good thing because he was about to take a needle to his hand.

"Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia." Sam looked at Jazz for a second. He'd heard that one before.

"Fear of words?"

"Close, kid. It's the fear of long words." Epps looked up at Jazz and smirked.

"Isn't that word like thirty letters long?"

"Thirty-five." Sam said as he looked at Epps for a second. Epps looked at Sam for a moment. Probably wondering how the kid knew that.

"There all done." Sam and the others turned to look at the doctor, who had successfully managed to stitch Sam's hand without the teen noticing.

"Now see Sam, was that so bad? And all that fuss over your foot." Epps said this with a smile on his face as Sam looked down, his face going slightly red in embarrassment. Sam scratched the back of his head with his left hand while the doctor bandaged his hand.

"So Jazz, you know any more really good fears?" Jazz smirked at Fig, he had the whole internet at his disposal.

"I got one for you Sammy-boy. How about Dikephobia?" Sam's head jerked to the side. There standing in the entrance stood Dr. Lynch and two men he didn't know, but he did know that they worked at the asylum. For a moment, Sam eyed Lynch before turning to look back at Jazz and the two soldiers. From what he could tell, Lynch could see the soldiers but not Jazz, at least not from where he and the men he had with him were standing. Sam looked at Jazz and pointed back toward the way they had come.

"Go get Optimus." He mouthed quietly. Jazz nodded and made his way out of the room, moving as fast as his body would allow.

"So Sammy-boy, Dikephobia. Are you going to answer my question or not?"

"Dikephobia, the fear of justice."


	8. Homeward Bound

Homeward Bound

The air around them was so thick at the moment that they'd probably need Optimus's sword to cut through it. Sam sat silent on the examination table with both Epps and Fig on either side of him. Lynch and his guard stood about five feet away from them. It was one of those situations where you really didn't know what to do. Though, some part of Sam noted with pride that Lynch was favoring his left leg. A slight bulge around Lynch's right knee showing that it was probably bandaged much heavier that it really needed to be. It was Epps who finally broke the silence.

"So you are?" Lynch smiled at the man's apparent confusion, somehow during their earlier activities they had missed Sam's bracelet.

"My mane is Nation Lynch and I'm Sammy-boy's doctor."

"Okay and you're here because?" Lynch took the time to laugh before answering this time.

"Well, I'm here to take Sammy-boy back to the nut house where he belongs." If Epps or Fig were surprised by this turn of events, neither one showed it. Though, for a brief second, they looked at one another and nodded, a silent agreement passing between them. "So Sammy-boy, you ready to go?"

Sam looked up at Lynch and fought back the urge to growl. There was no way in hell that he was going back without a fight.

"What's wrong Sammy-boy? You'll talk to them but not to me. That hardly seems fair." Sam said nothing as he let his eyes wander around the room. He wasn't going to talk not unless it was necessary. And he did mean necessary. Fig eyed the man in front of him, every fiber of his being telling him that the good doctor wasn't so good. He could feel it, there was something about the man that didn't seem right. He shot a look at Epps and could tell that he didn't like him either. Even if the kid sitting behind them was nuts, which he seriously doubted, he couldn't go with Lynch. It'd be like sentencing him to his death.

--With Optimus--

"What the hell aren't you telling us, Simmons?" Will asked as he clenched his fists at his sides, the urge to punch the man in front of him nearly overwhelming. "You talk about this Lynch guy like you know him."

"I do know him. Dr. Lynch is a member of Sector 7. He's in charge of studying psychic phenomenon. His current job over the past few years has been trying to figure out how the psychic part of the brain works and, if it's possible, to stop it. And, well as cruel as it sounds, Witwicky was the perfect guinea pig. I mean, look at his great grandfather. He went blind and nuts - well more blind than nuts." Simmons chuckled a little at the thought. It had been Lynch's grandfather that had kept him in his nut house. "Besides Witwicky's only living relative left him there. So like I said he belongs to Lyn -"

Will's whole body shook as he stared at Simmons, and then looked at the fist he had used to slug the man. He was so pissed at the moment he could barely think straight. Both Keller and Optimus stood silent as they waited to see what would happen next. They both felt just as strongly as Will about this. What Simmons had been saying was so wrong that it made them both sick, more so for Keller than Optimus.

"You talk about Sam like he belongs to you guys or something. He's a human being, and not just any human being but a kid." A firm hand on his shoulder stopped Will from hitting Simmons again. Keller looked Will in the eye for a moment and then turned his gaze toward Simmons.

"Simmons, I can't say this for certain but I'd watch it before you do more than piss off a soldier." Keller's eyes flicked to Optimus for a second before he looked back at Simmons. Optimus himself was quite shocked. The news he'd just received didn't surprise him as much as it would have if he and Sam hadn't talked on their way back. No, it was the silence from the other end of his com that made him nervous. He had, after all, been transmitting the conversation to Ratchet and he was sure that Ironhide had heard it as well.

He could only hope that they would keep a level head about this long enough for them to figure out what they were going to do with Sam. Simmons shrugged as he wiped the blood from his lip. "Ya well, it's not my choice, so take it up with Lynch." Simmons turned and stormed out of the room, curses flying left and right as he went. There was silence for a moment as everyone looked at each other.

"So, what know?" Will asked as he ran his fingers through his hair. He had no idea how the hell they were going to resolve this. The sound of loud footsteps filled the hallway outside the room they had been standing in. The footsteps were too loud to be human, so turning they expected to see Ratchet or Ironhide only to see the sleek silver form of Jazz approaching them.

"Jazz, you are supposed to be watching Sam." Jazz cringed a little at Optimus's 'command being disobeyed' voice. "I know Optimus, but we got a problem." Optics brightened as Optimus looked at the saboteur.

"What's happened?"

--

Epps cursed as he ran down the hallway trying to find Will. He'd left Fig with Sam and the creepy doctor and his two guards, that's what they looked like to him at least. The shit was about to hit the fan or so he believed. Things were getting really weird and he wasn't quite sure what to do. So he'd done the only thing he could do, he's started heading toward the boss.

"Epps, what are you doing? I thought you were with Samuel." Epps' head whipped around. There standing to the left of him were two of the giant robots, whose names he couldn't remember for the life of him at the moment. They'd work.

"I was, but this dude who says he's Sam's doctor showed up and now I'm looking for Will." Ratchet hmmed and then nodded to himself. "I received a message from Optimus a minute or so ago. They're all heading down to said room as we speak." Epps sighed in relief. Now all he had to do was go back. "Well, that's good man, but I'd have liked to have known that sooner. It would have saved me a lot of running."

"Indeed, it would have."

--With Sam--

Sam cringed as he stood, his whole body protesting against the movement. As if sensing his unease, not that it would surprise him if he could, Fig placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. The Mexican's eyes had never left the doctor in front of him. A silent tremor passed through Sam's body - this would be it. He'd find out what was going to happen to him soon.

"So Sammy-boy, are you ready to go home?" Lynch asked this as he took a step forward, fake smile stretched all the way across his face. Sam shook his head, no way in hell was he going to go with Lynch, not if he didn't have to.

"What wrong Sammy-boy? Aren't you going to talk to me? Huh?"

"Bite me." Fig snorted as he looked at Sam. Well, he'd talked.

"Why don't you and your goons just leave. No one wants you here." Lynch snorted as he stepped closer to Sam. No way in hell was he letting one of his test subjects get away. Pointer finger moving back and forth in a 'come here' motion, Lynch took one more step forward. Then, before either Sam or Fig could react, Lynch's hand had shot forward and thin but strong fingers wrapped themselves around Sam's wrist. Sam pulled back with a hiss of pain as Lynch's hand rubbed against the burns that ran along his wrist.

It was one of those moments where he wasn't really thinking as he pulled his arm back as fast as if would go, trying to free himself from Lynch's grasp. Well, he succeeded, only to have his balance betray him as he was sent sprawling to the floor seconds later, head hitting concrete and spots of color popping up in front of his eyes complete with a building fuzzy feeling in the back of his brain.

"Damn, Sam. You okay?" Sam never got to answer as Will grabbed his hand to pull him up, only for an almost electric current to shoot in between them, burned palms seared in pain as pale markings glowed a faint blueish-white. Then his whole world shifted and changed, colors and scenes flashing before his eyes.

"But mom it was his idea, not mine."

"Dad, when are you coming home?"

"Mr. Lennox, can you answer the question on the board?"

"Hi Sarah."

"Hello Will."

"Man Bobby, you are so screwed when your pops sees what you did to his car."

"Man, I really hate you right now. You know that, Will?"

"Mom, what's wrong? Did something happen to dad?"

"I sorry for your loss, son. Your father was a fine soldier."

"I think I'm goanna join the army. Like my old man."

"Sarah, will you marry me?"

"I'm so happy for you Will."

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

"I'm goanna be a father. I'M GOANNA BE A FATHER!"

"So Cap, is it a boy or girl?"

"Hey how are my ladies?"

"Sam? Will? Hey are you guys alright? Guys?"

--A few moments earlier--

Will knew one thing at that moment in time - he was tired of running. But, much to the annoyance of his legs, here he was running down to the medical room, Keller, Epps, and giant alien robots in tow. All this for some scrawny kid he barely knew anything about, other than the fact that he deserved better than what he was probably going to get. Will sighed in relief as he stepped into the room with Sam and the others in it. No fighting had broken out yet but, be damned if the man he could only assume was Dr. Lynch didn't grab a hold of Sam's wrist and start pulling.

With a noise somewhere between a grunt and sigh, Will stepped out into the room with Keller and Epps not far behind him. The Autobots were still standing out of sight for the moment, probably waiting to see what would happen and if they'd be needed. Will winced as he watched Sam pull his wrist out of Lynch's grip, only to lose his balance and fall, hitting his head on the floor.

That had had to hurt a lot and would probably leave a nice sized burse. Having managed to reach Sam first, Will shooed away Fig and Epps, who retreated a couple feet way, and bent down to help Sam off the floor.

"Damn Sam. You okay?" Taking a firm, but not tight or painful, hold of Sam's hand to pull the boy up, Will was forced to stop. Almost as soon as he had touched Sam's hand, the pale marks burned onto his skin by the Allspark, which had been a shade lighter than the rest of his burned hand, started to glow a pale blue color. A kind of fuzzy feeling entered Will's head, and a few seconds later it felt like someone had rubbed a huge balloon over his brain. It felt kind of like static electricity, but only stronger.

Will was sure what was going on a second later, but it was almost like he was watching a bad TV. The world around him began to flicker and was slowly being replaced with a different scene and there were voices to go along with it. Voices that he'd never heard before know and people he didn't know.

"Sam hurry up, Miles is waiting."

"Dad, can we go to the park?"

"Sam, didn't your mother tell you to wash up for dinner?"

"Mommy? What does the monster in my dream want?"

"Sam, my dad said I could spend the night."

"Miles do you dream when you're awake? Cause mommy said that lots of people do. I don't think she was telling me the truth."

"It's okay Sammy. I'm here and I've got my bat. Nothing going to get you."

"Mommy, where are we going."

"Sit still Sam, you can go play after we're done eating. I promise."

"Mommy I think the monster found me."

"RUN SAMMY RUN!"

"Sam, my name is Ruban Goddard, I'm a policeman, and I'm goanna take you down to the station to wait for your uncle is that okay?"

"It'll be okay, Sammy. We're goanna get help."

"Sam. My name is Dr. Lynch."

"I see things. Mommy told me that they weren't real. She was wrong."

"THERE'S NO SUCH THING. IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD."

"What do they look like? Maybe I can help you. I can do things too. Things that no one else can."

"Not much longer."

"So Sammy-boy, where are your friends now?"

"They're coming."

"Sam? Will? Hey are you guys alright? Guys?"

--

Will shook his head as he looked at Sam.

"What the hell was that?" Sam blinked. That was a new one for him. Letting so of Will's hand, Sam stood, his body shaking a little as he did it.

"Um, sorry." Fingers twitching again, Sam looked around the room, not really sure what to do.

"So are you guys okay?" Fig asked as he took a step closer to both Will and Sam.

"Ya, I think so." Will said as he looked over at Sam who nodded his head once. His gaze was settled on Lynch, who was walking toward them. The two men that had played statue for the past few minutes were moving too. Without even thinking, Will reached out and grabbed the back of Sam's shirt, pulling the young man behind him and the others.

"Sam, stay behind us no matter what happens." Will saw Sam nod out of the corner of his eye. Lynch and his men stopped about two feet away from Will and his men.

"Are you really going to make this more difficult than it has to be? I mean for Christ's sake, he a scrawny teenagers. He can't be of any use to you." Will snorted.

"Ya, well he can't be worth much to you either. I mean he only a kid after all." Lynch's hands balled into fists as Will said this. He needed Sam to continue his research. Taking another step forward, Lynch motioned to the two men behind him. Both stepped forward almost like they were going to force Will and his men out of the way, only to be stopped by a mechanical growl. Heads jerked to the side as Ironhide's cannons roared to life, his annoyance with the situation quite evident. Almost as soon as Ironhide's cannons had started, the other Autobots had moved as well. Jaw hanging down to the floor, Lynch looked up at the giant metal beings that stood in front of him.

"My friends made it." Lynch's head snapped over to Sam, who had a very smug smile on his face.

"I can see that, Sammy-boy. Now, you know as well as I do that what's going on right now is ridiculous. Even if I don't take you back, you don't have anywhere to go. Your uncle won't take you back, and you're a wanted man." Lynch smirked as he said this.

"It'll be really hard for you to just disappear, ya know. Chances are you'll end up dead." Lynch took a step back from Sam. He'd just given the boy his only options.

"So say you do run, where will you go?"

"He can stay with me." This time, every head turned to look at Will. His arms were crossed and he had a dead serious look in his eye. Lynch laughed.

"So what, he's still wanted for murder. He'll only drag you into this, and you'd probably end up on death row."

"He's got a point, Will. How are you going to handle this?" To tell the truth, Will had no idea - his mouth had opened before his brain could figure it out.

"Like you said, Doc I'm goanna end up dead." More heads turned to look at Sam. Said boy had taken a seat on one of the exam tables and was looking down at his hands, a smile on his face. "People die every day."

Sam looked at Ratchet and then Keller as he said this.

"Of course I get it." Keller smiled a little as he looked at Sam. He did have a good idea. "Who says that he has to be Sam anymore."

Realization hit the room with a loud bang. Lynch huffed and turned. He knew when he'd lost a battle. "Fine then. I wish you all the best of luck." This war was so not over, not by a long shot.

"Ya know will Sarah's goanna through a fit and then kill you. Not even the good doctor here," Epps pointed at Ratchet as he said this. "Will be able to put you back together again." Will cursed under his breath. Him and his split second decisions.

--Several Hours later--

Sam fidgeted as he sat in Ironhide's cab. The dirt road underneath them causing them to go up and down every time he'd hit a large rock.

"Relax Sam. My wife's not going to kill you. She'll kill me and then fawn over you. Trust me, she's that kind of person." Will said this with a laugh as he tugged at the sleeve of his dress uniform. Ironhide rumbled to a stop in front of the Lennox farm and, with a happy grin, Will climbed out of the drivers side door. Sam followed at a much slower pace, his boots hitting the gravel driveway with a soft crunching noise. Keller had been kind enough to get the men at Sector 7 to give him a clean white shirt to replace his torn one and a pair of worn boots, which Fig had had to tie for him, much to his embarrassment.

The sound of a screen door opening caught his attention and he looked up. A woman with long blond hair carrying a baby was stepping outside and making her way toward Will. Sam watched as Will took his daughter from his wife with a smile and, for a second, Sam was reminded of his parents. Will and his wife exchanged a few words, and then Will motioned for Sam to join them. With a gulp, Sam stepped forward and toward Will, fingers twitching and a small smile on his face.


	9. A New Road

A New Road

Will cringed as he looked at his wife. Her face had a tint of red in it and her arms were crossed across her chest. Her mouth was set in a thin line, and he had the feeling that he was about to get it big time.

"Now Sarah, you have to…"

"Don't you dare 'now Sarah' me, William Lennox. You come home with the kid that I saw on the news this morning and insist that he's not dangerous."

"But Sarah, he isn't. I swear."

"How do you know that Will? Huh? How do you know?"

"Well that's gonna be kind of hard to explain."

"Well, you had better explain soon because our daughter is cry…" Sarah stopped dead in the middle of her sentence. Annabelle had stopped crying, and she had been too busy fighting with her husband to notice. A million scenarios ran through her head, getting worse as they went, as she ran back toward the living room. Will followed her at a slower pace, not wanting to get in her way, she was already pissed off enough as it was.

"See Sarah, that's how I know." Sam was sitting on the living room floor, legs crossed with Annabelle on his lap. Annabelle herself had taken an interest in the fingers on Sam's left hand and currently had his thumb in her mouth, gumming on it without a care in the world. Sarah smiled and sighed before she turned to look at her husband.

"You win, Will, he can stay, but he's getting his hair cut." Will chuckled as he put one arm around his wife's waist.

"Sure thing, dear."

--

Will had come to the conclusion that Sam was one of those people who you would never understand no matter how hard you tried, and he'd stopped trying the day after Sam had moved in with him and Sarah. Sam was strange, to say the least. He couldn't tie his shoes but he could do math problems that still gave him trouble, all he needed was the example in the book. In three days, he'd also learned more about Sam's life - or what he could remember of it - and some of it he found he didn't want to know.

He'd also discovered that Sarah had turned traitor and she and Sam were conspiring against him. Mainly because if Sam wasn't with him or Ironhide - who his wife had officially met the day before and it hadn't been very pretty - he was with his wife, who tended to have Annabelle with her. So, as Will sat pouting at his kitchen table while his wife made dinner, Sarah gave him a look like he was a five year old.

"Oh stop that Will, you're acting like a child. All Sam's doing is changing Anna's diaper."

"But Sarah you're supposed to be forcing me to do all this stuff." Sarah sighed as she shook her head and went back to her cooking.

--

Sam's heart was beating fast, his hands were beginning to sweat and if he cared to admit it to himself, he was getting scared. His eyes flew back and forth and he was focused on the item in front of him. So focused that he didn't hear Will come into the room. Will made himself known a few seconds later when he tapped Sam's shoulder, and said boy shouted and jumped, dropping his book on the floor and loosing his page.

"Geez Sam, what the hell were you reading?" Will asked as he picked up Sam's fallen book and turned it onto the cover page. Stephen King's The Shining. Will snorted and shook his head. The day before he'd been reading Annabelle's books to her, stumbling through most of the words while doing so, and now he was reading Stephen King.

"I see you found Sarah's bookshelf."

"Ya, and?"

"You couldn't have started Lords of the Ring or something less horror inducing?" Sam looked at him and scratched the back of his head.

"I read that one last night. You guys need to get the last two." Will groaned and handed the book back to Sam.

"You know you're supposed to sleep at night, Sam."

"I know but I keep having nightmares about Mission City." Will nodded as he sat on the couch next to Sam. He'd been having nightmares too.

"You know that's over, right. I mean nothing bad can happen now." Sam pulled his knees up to his chin and wrapped his arms around them, shaking his head.

"It's not over, Will. I can still see them. More are coming, and not all of them are like Optimus and the others." Will nodded his head in understanding.

"Well, look at it this way kid. It took twelve years for Hide and the others to get here, right?"

"Ya."

"Well, with any luck, these guys will arrive later and we'll have time to be prepared." Sam nodded and looked down at his hands, still dark red from burns, and sighed. With any luck they had time. 'We'll have Hide tell Optimus and the others later, okay?"

"Okay."

--

"Oh for the love of god, Sam, stop fidgeting or he'll cut you." Sam launched his best glare at Will, which wasn't very good considering his bangs hung wet in his face and made his glare look more like a pout. Will, seeing this, proceeded to turn his head and laugh into his hand.

"You know that if I really wanted to torture you, I'd have taken you to the barber in town and not bought you here to the base."

"You wouldn't take me into town anyways, Will. You haven't gone into town since you got home. You have Sarah go while you and me stay home with Anna."

"Ya well, you're the one that freaks out when you're in a crowded place." Sam sighed, crossed his arms, and stuck out his tongue, the only real movements he was able to make without really moving his head. Will chuckled as he watched the barber behind Sam cut off another couple of inches of hair.

"You know you're awful immature for a kid who can do trig like it's nothing but can't tie his shoes." Sam blushed as he cast his eyes downward. He couldn't help it. Will was right though - anything he could read about in a book he learned really fast, but when it came to things that he had to be shown it took him longer to learn.

"There, all done, kid."

"Well, I have to admit Sam, you look good with short hair, and who'd have thought it, you have curls." If looks could kill, Will would have been dead on the spot.

--

Sam shivered as he sat on the bathroom floor, the only light coming from a small nightlight. Sweat running down his forehead, Sam sighed and waited. The world around him was foggy and unclear. He wasn't even sure how he'd managed to make it to the bathroom without falling. His whole body felt like it was pounding. His ribs were sore and both his hand and foot stung. Sam gulped back the rising urge to puke again and leaned back against the wall next to the toilet, wiping at his eyes as he did this.

The world around him shifted again, and a loud and painful ringing sounded in his ears. Pressing his hands to his ears, Sam bit his lip, trying not to scream as the ringing got louder. It felt like someone had taken a saw to his head and was cutting as slow as possible. Sam's body lurched forward and before he could tell his body no, he was sick again. Hands trembling and white from his grip on the toilet, Sam groaned. He was, at the moment, completely totally and utterly miserable.

"Sam?" Sam's head jerked to the side and a fierce pain ripped through his body. Blinking, Sam turned his head in the general direction of where the soft voice was coming from.

"Are you okay, Sam?" Sam shook his head. No, he wasn't okay. His body hurt and he was sick and the fog in front of his eyes wasn't going away or letting him get a clear view of what was going on around him. Sarah sighed as she sat down next to Sam. The poor boy was white as a sheet and sweating. In a motion her mother had used when she was younger, Sarah pulled Sam close and ran a hand down his back.

"It'll be okay Sam."

--

John Keller smiled as he handed a manila envelope to Will. "Everything you need is here, all you have to do is fill it out." Will nodded as he pulled out the first sheet of paper and began signing. "If you don't mind me askin what's going to happen to Sam?"

Will looked up for a moment before returning to the paper work. "He going to stay with me and Sarah until the Autobots get their base finished, then he's going to move in with them. At least that's the plan at the moment." Keller nodded as he looked out the window.

"So, have you guys decided on a new name yet?" Will nodded as his pen moved down to the next line.

"Shia. We're naming him after my wife's brother. His full name will be Shia Michel Samuel Lennox. Kind of a mouthful, but we wanted to keep his name in there somewhere."

"You're right Captain, that is a mouthful."

--

"Wow, this place is a real mess." Sam nodded as he looked around the top level of what was to be the Autobot's base. He didn't even want to see the lower levels if they were as bad as the top one. It seemed like they had one military vehicle from the past hundred years stored in the top hanger.

"Look at it this way, we can always reuse the metal and the parts."

"Sam has a point, Will."

"Shut it Hide, you're supposed to be on my side." Optimus chuckled as he watched Will and Ironhide fight. It helped lift some of the unease they felt around each other.

"Keller has informed me that the lower levels are indeed in much better shape than this one. He says that all they really need is cleaned and fixed up here and there." Will snorted and looked over at Sam for a second before eyeing the mess in front of him.

"Ya well, I still say this place is a mess."

--

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk.

"Sam what the hell are you doing?" Will asked as he looked up into the apple tree. Sam sat about ten feet up and was throwing apples at the ground. Bumblebee sat not fifteen feet away, watching his charge commit said acts.

"I'm getting apples, Will." Sam said this as if it was the most odious thing in the world.

"I can see that, Sam. What I want to know is why you're throwing them at the ground."

"He's trying to get them into the basket." Will turned and looked at Bumblebee, who had turned his head to look at Will.

"Over there." Bumblebee pointed to a spot not that far away from Will, where there was indeed a basket sitting in the grass half way full of apples. Will shook his head and walked back over to where Ironhide was parked. Getting in the truck, he turned and looked at the boy and mech. "Just be back at the house before dinner, you two."

"Can do, Will."

--

Optimus looked up at the night sky. The sky was cloudless and the stars and moon were very bright. Humans made pictures with the stars or so he had heard, but for the life of him, he couldn't find them no matter how hard he looked.

"You're looking too hard." Optimus looked down and smiled.

"Does will and Sarah know you're out here Sam?"

"No, they're asleep." Sam said this as he looked up at Optimus and smiled.

"As you should be, Sam. Ratchet says it's not good for you to be awake like this. He tells me that if you continue to stay awake like this, he's going to have you take sleeping pills every night." Sam snorted and shifted his gaze to the stars.

"If he insists, he may be in for a fight."

"You'd willingly pick a fight with Ratchet?"

"Yup, just for the sake of being stubborn and annoying him."

"You're braver than I am then." Sam laughed.

"Not really. I just plan on getting him back on his toes." Optimus nodded and said nothing, and for a few minutes, the two of them stood in silence. Optimus was once again trying to find the pictures in the stars.

"You're still trying too hard."

"Am I?"

"Yup. Here I'll show you." With a nod, Optimus lowered his hand to the ground and allowed Sam to climb onto it. The air around Sam moved as Optimus lifted him up and deposited him onto his shoulder.

"Okay, that star there is the north star. You see it?" Optimus's optics fallowed Sam's finger.

"Yes."

"Now you connect that one with the one next to it." Sam drew a line with his finger to the next star. "Then you connect that one with those there." His finger moved again and Optimus's optics fallowed. "When you connect them all, you get the big dipper."

"I can see it now."

--

Tires squealed as Bumblebee turned a sharp corner. Sam laughed from his place in the driver's seat. Wind rushed in trough the window causing him to squint. Sam had come to the conclusion that his guardian loved to speed. Not that he didn't love going fast too, but there were times he wished Bumblebee would roll the window up and leave it up, especially when they were riding down roads so dusty he could see the air in the car.

"Bee, for the love of god, roll up the window. If it's down much longer, Will and Epps are going to have to dig me out."

"You dirty dirty boy."

"I'm dirty? Have you seen yourself, Bee. You aren't yellow anymore, you're brownish red." Tires came to abrupt halt as Bumblebee hit the breaks. Sam, sensing trouble, unbuckled his seatbelt and proceeded to get put of the car. The sound of sliding metal and whirling gears filled the air a few seconds later as Bumblebee transformed. Twisting and turning this way and that, Bumblebee got a good look at himself. Sam hadn't been lying, he was indeed a nice shade of brownish red.

"Now who's a dirty boy, Bee? You need a bath."

--

Sam was running as fast as his legs would carry him, his mind going over what he'd just seen again and again. His footsteps were matched by the softly pounding paws of his puppy Mojo, a Saint Bernard that had been a gift from Figg before he went to visit his mother in Florida. Figg hadn't even bothered to ask anyone if Sam could have a dog. He'd just shown up at the base one day, walked into the newly finished rec room, complete with a sectioned off kitchen for the humans, given Sam the dog and then proceeded to tell him that everything he'd need was in what was to be his room. Then he had left, claiming he wanted to live.

So, needless to say, Mojo had stayed and not even Ironhide could gather up the courage to make Sam get rid of the dog. Figg had at least gotten him a dog that wouldn't be easily stepped on when he was full grown. Taking a sharp right turn, Sam slid a bit on the clean floor, Mojo sliding as well. Running toward one of the large meeting rooms, Sam slowed as he got closer and banged on the wall to get Optimus's attention. Not that it was hard, considering he had permission to speak to the Autobot leader whenever he needed to so long as it was important.

"What is it, Sam?"

Sam grinned as he looked up at Optimus. "Landfall."


End file.
